NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WKRN) — Scheduled maintenance to the National Weather Service's AWIPS software will impact NOAA weather radio warnings in Middle Tennessee this week ahead of severe weather in the forecast.

According to Krissy Hurley, the meteorologist-in-charge at the Nashville NWS office, AWIPS—Advance Weather Interactive Processing System—is the software they use to help make accurate forecasts and issue warnings.

Hurley said they will still be able to issue warnings and make forecasts, but the warnings will not be transmitted to NOAA weather radios. However, she added people will still be able to get warnings on their phones and weather apps.

While speaking with News 2, Hurley admitted that the timing of this maintenance is unfortunate but it was chosen months ago.

"All the weeks that we could choose from were in the spring, and unfortunately, we had to choose this week because we felt like we were transitioning out of the bigger severe weather season where we typically see before we get into our summertime popcorn thunderstorms," she explained.

In Tennessee, May is historically the second-most active month for tornadoes. The chance of tornadoes drastically goes down in June and July.

Hurley said every National Weather Service in the country has to do this maintenance, and it will help keep their systems working smoothly for the years to come.

News Source : https://www.wkrn.com/weather-headlines/national-weather-service-updating-awips-software-this-week-heres-what-that-means-for-weather-radios-in-middle-tn/