After upgrading its supercomputing core in 2015, the National Weather Service is continuing its lumbering slog toward modern systems in a far different way: by saying goodbye to teletype.

After more than two decades of trying, the NWS has finally made every upgrade needed in both the hardware and software chain to remove an all-caps requirement from forecasts and other warnings. The service's Monday announcement kicked off the 30-day transition period that is being given so that customers and subscribers can prepare for the change to mixed-case lettering in all NWS announcements, meaning we'll see the change begin to propagate on May 11.

All-caps messaging was previously required due to the NWS' reliance on teletype machines, which broadcast their text over phone lines and weren't built to recognize upper or lower cases of letters. In addition to removing teletype machines from the information chain, the NWS also had to upgrade its AWIPS 2 software system across the board to recognize mixed-type submissions.

The announcement confirmed that all-caps will not be verboten once all types of NWS forecasts, announcements, and warnings convert to mixed-case (which will happen in stages between May 11 and "early next year." Going all-caps will be allowed in order to "emphasize threats," and international bulletins will continue to be sent all-caps to comply with regulations outside the United States. The NWS chose to describe capital letters as "synonymous with angry shouting," meaning we'll soon finally be able to read NWS bulletins aloud in our heads without sounding like this guy.

The most recent call to mixed-case action came from a 2010 comment request sent to all weather-forecast subscribers and customers. It was written entirely in upper case.