New award for Varsom.no

In 2018, Varsom won the IT Lighthouse award in the public sector for its effective tools in distributing user-friendly natural hazard warnings. This year, Varsom received a new prize, this time from the Norwegian Hydrology Council. The award for good hydrological communication was given to the flood, landslide, and weather forecasting services at NVE and MET (varsom.no) for their communication during the extreme weather event Hans.  

Enormous amounts of rain - more than 100 millimeters over two to three days across large areas – resulted in extensive flooding in many rivers and more than 750 landslides. This caused significant damage to houses, property, and infrastructure.  

According to the jury in the Norwegian Hydrology Council, the flood and landslide forecasting service (NVE) and the weather forecasting service (MET) provided early warnings about the extreme weather event and its potential consequences. These warnings allowed affected parties to prepare. The jury praised the forecasters’ visibility, clear information during the crisis, and their ability to communicate uncertainty. They were also active in the media and provided complementary information on Varsom.no, something that contributed to professional credibility.  

NVE continuously works on developing user-friendly services and maintaining good communication with municipalities. In 2023 we have conducted multiple external user surveys to gain insight into, amongst others, how the municipalities affected by Hans perceived and understood the information provided by us. We have several ongoing projects to better understand how municipalities handles natural hazards and identify their needs.  

- We are proud to receive the prize from the Hydrology Council, and that our effort with flood and landslide warnings during Hans is seen and recognized. It inspires us to continue the work with improving the information we give on Varsom. In this work user surveys provide valuable insight into varying needs. In collaboration with the Norwegian Meteorological Institute, we will work on delivering more precise, useful, and consequence-based natural hazard warnings, which can contribute to better readiness and crisis management in the municipalities, says Hege Hisdal, director in NVE.  

 The Norwegian Meteorological Institute (MET), in collaboration with NVE and NRK, has also worked with how we forecast and communicate dangerous weather and natural hazards over the past year. This work has borne fruit, and now the agencies are starting the follow-up and planning to implement changes and further develop forecasting together.  

- The Norwegian Meteorological Institute are very proud that we, together with our good collaboration partner NVE, have received this award. Through daily collaboration and many joint projects, we experience that we are involved in securing a good forecast service connected to a lot of water and related consequences, says Bård Fjukstad director in the Norwegian Meteorological Institute.