During periods of severe weather, the micro-blogging service, Twitter often explodes with information. Some tweets are helpful, others are less so.

The “Virtual Operations Support Group” blog posted an excellent article last year, “How to Tweet Responsibly in Severe Weather” that every Twitter user should read before the next severe weather event happens.

Highlights include:

• Include the Twitter handle of your local NWS office when reporting weather.
• Include a time stamp with on any tweet about an NWS warning and any tweet that contains a severe weather report.
• In weather reports, also include:
  • What you saw.
  • Where it happened.
  • A photo, if possible.
• Even if you normally prohibit Twitter from knowing your location (for privacy), enable location services while tweeting about severe weather.