Why we should have a Winter Storm Warning, not an Advisory!

Note: This post is not intended to be a rant, but this is important and needs to be said.

The National Weather Service in Binghamton has issued a Winter Weather Advisory for Central New York for tomorrow's Ice Storm. Now, I think they are making a mistake in only issuing an advisory. Instead, I believe we should currently be under a Winter Storm Warning. Here is why:

Firstly, the National Weather Service in State College, PA, has issued Winter Storm Warnings for all their counties, while Binghamton and Buffalo have only issued advisories:


Now the very interesting thing is, the warnings issued by State College are for average ice amounts of 1/4". What does our winter weather advisory say? Average ice amounts of 1/4". Why are they the same amounts, yet not the same statement? If anything, I would think it would be reversed since the State College area will not see snow to start and will change to rain quicker.

One may wonder why Binghamton is in the wrong, and not State College? The reason for this is the main reason I am making this post:

Just 2 days ago, on Tuesday, the NWS in Binghamton issued a freezing rain advisory for the area. It certainly was slippery out, but there was just a coating of ice, so it wasn't a huge deal. Now, just two days later, we have another advisory. Its natural, therefore, to think that this next event will be comparable to Tuesday's, when in fact Friday will be much worse than Tuesday! A quarter inch of ice is a LOT more than a coating. A quarter inch can make travel very dangerous, bring down branches and cause some power outages.

Again, I can not stress enough that this storm is nothing at all like Tuesday's! We really should be under a WINTER STORM WARNING!