Watch vs warning › Winter storm watch vs warning
Winter storm watch vs warning
A winter storm watch means conditions are favorable for a significant winter storm. Be ready. A winter storm warning means a significant winter weather event is happening or about to happen. Travel will become difficult or impossible in some situations.
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This box reads public National Weather Service data when you load the page. It does not notify you, and it does not run in the background. Do not use it in place of a weather radio or your phone alerts.
The danger in a winter storm is mostly on the road and mostly from being stuck. Change your travel plans while you still have a choice.
What the National Weather Service says
Winter Storm Watch
Issued when conditions are favorable for a significant winter storm event (heavy sleet, heavy snow, ice storm, heavy snow and blowing snow or a combination of events).
- Issued by
- Your local National Weather Service forecast office.
- How long it lasts
- A Winter Storm Watch is issued when there is the potential for significant and hazardous winter weather within 48 hours.
Winter Storm Warning
A significant winter weather event including snow, ice, sleet or blowing snow or a combination of these hazards. Travel will become difficult or impossible in some situations.
- Issued by
- Your local National Weather Service forecast office.
- How long it lasts
- A Winter Storm Warning is issued when a significant combination of hazardous winter weather is occurring or imminent.
Winter Weather Advisory
Issued when snow, blowing snow, ice, sleet, or a combination of these wintry elements is expected but conditions should not be hazardous enough to meet warning criteria.
- Issued by
- Your local National Weather Service forecast office.
There is no single national snow total that triggers a winter storm warning. The National Weather Service does not publish one on its winter safety page. What counts as significant depends on what your area is used to, so check the page for your local National Weather Service office.
The 48 hour figure for a watch comes from the National Weather Service office in Baltimore and Washington, cited at the end of this page. The winter safety page itself does not state a lead time.
A winter storm warning can be upgraded to a Blizzard Warning or an Ice Storm Warning. Both have their own pages here.
What to do
If a winter storm watch is issued
- Look at your travel plans for the next two days and decide what you can cancel or move.
- Fill your gas tank and pick up food, water, and any medicine you need before the roads change.
- Charge your phone and any battery packs.
- Get out flashlights and check your weather radio batteries. Winter storms take power lines down.
- If you heat with electricity, work out now how you would stay warm without it.
- Check on neighbors who would have a hard time if the power went out.
If a winter storm warning is issued
- Delay travel plans until conditions improve.
- If you are already on the road, get to where you are going or get off the road early. Do not push through.
- Keep a coat, boots, blankets, water, and a charged phone in the vehicle if you must drive.
- Stay inside and stay warm. Do not go out to check on things you can check on later.
- Never run a generator, a grill, or a camp stove inside a house, a basement, or a garage.
- When using heat from a fire place, wood stove, or space heater, use fire safeguards and properly ventilate.
- Clear snow away from any outside vent for a furnace or a dryer.
- If you get stranded in a vehicle, stay in the vehicle. See the steps below.
- Check on older neighbors and anyone without reliable heat.
If a winter weather advisory is issued
- Expect slick roads and a slower trip.
- Leave earlier and give yourself more room to stop.
- Watch for bridges and overpasses. They ice up first.
- Keep checking. An advisory can be upgraded to a warning.
Common questions
How much snow triggers a winter storm warning?
There is no single national number. The National Weather Service issues a Winter Storm Warning for a significant winter weather event including snow, ice, sleet or blowing snow, or a combination of these hazards, and each local office sets the amounts that count as significant for its own area. Six inches is routine in one place and shuts down another. Check your local National Weather Service office page for the numbers where you live.
Source: www.weather.gov/safety/winter-wwHow far in advance is a winter storm watch issued?
A Winter Storm Watch is issued when there is the potential for significant and hazardous winter weather within 48 hours. A Winter Storm Warning is issued when a significant combination of hazardous winter weather is occurring or imminent, so it comes much closer to the event.
Source: www.weather.gov/lwx/warningsdefinedWhat is the difference between a winter storm warning and a winter weather advisory?
A warning is for a significant winter weather event where travel will become difficult or impossible in some situations. An advisory is for wintry weather that is expected but should not be hazardous enough to meet warning criteria. An advisory means give yourself more time. A warning means stay off the road.
Source: www.weather.gov/safety/winter-wwIs a winter storm watch or warning worse?
The warning is worse. A watch means conditions are favorable for a significant winter storm and there is potential for it within 48 hours. A warning means the significant winter weather is occurring or imminent. Use the watch to change your plans, because by the time the warning is out the roads are the problem.
Source: www.weather.gov/safety/winter-wwIf you are stranded in your vehicle
- Stay in the vehicle. If you leave your vehicle, you will become disoriented quickly in wind driven snow and cold.
- Tie a bright colored cloth, preferably red, to your antenna or door.
- After snow stops falling, raise the hood to indicate you need help.
- Run the motor about 10 minutes each hour for heat.
- Clear snow from the exhaust pipe to avoid gas poisoning. Do this before you run the motor, every time.
- While running the motor, open the window a little for fresh air to avoid carbon monoxide poisoning.
- Keep moving your arms and legs to keep blood flowing.
How a winter storm alert reaches you
Winter storm watches and warnings are not on the National Weather Service list of alerts sent to cell phones as Wireless Emergency Alerts. That list is short and does not include them. Snow Squall Warnings, a different and much shorter alert for sudden whiteout conditions, are on it.
So do not expect your phone to buzz for a winter storm warning. Check the forecast yourself before you travel.
Source: www.weather.gov/wrn/weaHow a winter storm alert reaches you when the power is out
NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards broadcasts official Weather Service warnings, watches, forecasts and other hazard information 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, directly from the nearest National Weather Service office.
A battery powered weather radio keeps working when the power and the internet do not. That is the exact situation a winter storm creates.
Source: www.weather.gov/nwr