"The Worst Weather In America": Augmenting the Information Design of Extreme Cold Weather Forecasts

2026-04-28

AI Summary

This study addresses the limitations of text-based extreme cold weather forecasts, which often fail to effectively communicate risk and thereby impair tourists’ safety decisions. To mitigate this issue, the authors designed and evaluated a color-coded hazard icon system that translates the complex textual forecasts from Mount Washington Observatory into intuitive visual summaries. Drawing on insights from participatory workshops, iterative visual design, and crowdsourced user studies, the research demonstrates a significant improvement in users’ perception of mountaineering risks. The work also highlights persistent challenges and potential innovation pathways in visualizing cold-weather hazards, particularly under the constraints of diverse cognitive differences and ethical considerations in design.

Abstract

Mount Washington is home to extreme, and extremely volatile, weather conditions. Consulting a weather forecast of conditions at the summit is vital for making one's visit as safe as possible. Using the discussion and suggestions arising from a participatory workshop as input, we test a design intervention employing color-coded hazard icons to function as visual summaries of Mount Washington Observatory's current text-heavy forecast through a crowd-sourced study. We find that the use of icons increases the perceived risk of activities involving visiting the mountain. However, we highlight remaining questions around visualization design and design ethics that warrant further study in the domain of how best to communicate cold weather hazards in ways that are mindful of the diversity of literacies and experiences of visitors.

Problem

• extreme cold weather
• forecast communication
• information design
• risk perception
• weather hazards

Innovation

• information design
• hazard visualization
• participatory design
• weather forecasting
• risk communication