Confusion between the terms “watch” and “warning” have been ongoing for years and continues today. Every year, we typically see several incorrect interpretations between watches and warnings. We want to help dispel some misunderstandings in the never-ending watch vs warning debate.
Watch vs Warning: I’m Under a Watch. Isn’t That Bad?
A “watch” is not an imminent threat. The definition of a watch is:
“A watch is used when the risk of a hazardous weather or hydrologic event has increased significantly, but its occurrence, location or timing is still uncertain. It is intended to provide enough lead time so those who need to set their plans in motion can do so. A watch means that hazardous weather is possible. People should have a plan of action in case a storm threatens and they should listen for later information and possible warnings especially when planning travel or outdoor activities.”
(Source: NWS)
Ok, that’s a lot to take in and it sounds serious! What does it mean?
A watch means that a hazardous weather event is possible in the near future but is not currently occurring. It is meant to be a “heads up” notification that a hazardous weather event may impact your area and that you should start preparing for any potential impacts that weather may have on you. It’s also a time to review your severe weather action plans and be prepared to put them into action should you need to.
That makes sense. A Watch means something might happen. So, what’s a “Warning?”
A “warning” means it’s time to take action or be prepared to take action with little notice. Officially, a warning is defined as:
“A warning is issued when a hazardous weather or hydrologic event is occurring, imminent or likely. A warning means weather conditions pose a threat to life or property. People in the path of the storm need to take protective action.”
(Source: NWS)
When a warning is issued, you must determine some or all of the following:
- Do I need to take action right now?
- Do I need to take action with little time to act?
- Will the hazardous weather impact me soon but I have time to act?
- What type of hazardous weather can I expect?
- Do I need to act at all?
Warnings come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and aren’t just limited to severe thunderstorms and tornadoes. For instance, when a Winter Storm Warning is issued, you may not need to take any additional action at all – perhaps you prepared for a pending winter storm in advance and when the warning was issued, you did not need to take any additional action as you had already stocked up on groceries, changed travel plans, etc.
Conversely, if a tornado warning were issued, you may need to act immediately to seek shelter to protect yourself and others. You may only have seconds to act or you may have several minutes, however, there is a higher urgency to act as there is a much higher threat for injury or loss of life.
Common Warning Types include:
- Tornado
- Severe Thunderstorm
- Flood (occurs over a long period of time)
- Flash Flood (occurs in a short period of time and/or in a more localized location)
- Winter Storm
- Blizzard
- High Wind
While all these hazards can and do have adverse impacts on people, they may impact you differently from someone else. Perception is everything and just because you may be under some type of warning and not seeing any impact from the weather threat does not mean that someone else is seeing the same thing. Another person may be seeing a very significant weather threat and have to take drastic action to protect themselves.
BONUS: Advisories
Now that you have a better understanding of a watch vs a warning, let’s briefly talk about advisories. There are several advisory types so we won’t focus much on each but instead what you can expect if any advisory is issues.
So want does it mean?
“An advisory is issued when a hazardous weather or hydrologic event is occurring, imminent or likely. Advisories are for less serious conditions than warnings, that cause significant inconvenience and if caution is not exercised, could lead to situations that may threaten life or property.”
(Source: NWS)
Ok, so you previously said a warning was for hazardous weather that is occurring or imminent? So advisories are too? I’m so confused!
While that is true, advisories are issued for less serious weather hazards that have the potential to cause inconvenience but are not immediate threats to life or property. However, ignoring an advisory could potentially put yourself into an adverse situation where injury or death could occur, but the overall threat isn’t adverse enough to create an imminent concern to injury or death. Some common examples are Dense Fog and Wind Advisories. While the hazard alone isn’t a serious hazard, these conditions could potentially lead to injury or even death if you do not take proper action to mitigate the hazard.
For example, if a dense fog advisory was issued and it was indeed foggy outside, and you had to travel, it may make travel difficult as visibility is restricted. To help mitigate getting into an accident while driving, you would ensure that your lights were on and that you were driving at a slower speed so that you could respond to other traffic that may be slowed or stopped. That may mean traveling at less than the posted speed limit in order to becoming the hazard in the roadway or creating a hazard for other motorists.
To put this into perspective, let’s talk about tacos.
TACO WATCH: We have everything to make tacos. Maybe we’ll make them soon – maybe we won’t. It depends.
TACO WARNING: Prep? Already did that. Cooked everything? Yep, done. We have tacos, they’re assembled and ready to eat. RIGHT. NOW. Not 5 minutes from now, not an hour for now. EAT THIS TACO. RIGHT. NOW.
TACO ADVISORY: We have most of the ingredients for tacos and we could make them too. However, we don’t have much to go around, we’re out of taco seasoning and we don’t have cheese. Don’t get too excited about these tacos. We might not even make them.
Have A Way To Receive Watches and Warnings
There are many ways to receive watches, warnings and advisories issued by the National Weather Service. Some of the easiest ways to receive alerts are:
- NOAA Weather Radio
- Smartphone applications, including our own FREE “Ohio News and Weather” app
- Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) through your cell phone provider
- Many counties have notification systems you can sign up for to receive alerts
- Radio & TV outlets
Don’t Shoot the Messenger
With so many ways to receive information and so many hot new reality shows we have to keep up with so we have something to gossip about at work the next day, it’s important for people to understand that those on TV have an obligation to inform the public. Specifically, any time a tornado warning is issued in a TV’s market area (known as their “DMA”), they are obligated to break into programming to provide critical weather information for as long as a tornado warning is active.
They don’t do this because the TV weather man likes the sound of his voice.
They don’t do this because the TV weather man thinks he’s having a good hair day.
They don’t do this to try and get ratings.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which licenses radio and TV stations, require broadcasters to provide access to emergency information. Information must be provided in both audio and video formats. Thus, the station must break into programming. Failure to do so could result in adverse action taken against the broadcaster by the FCC, such as a large fine or even suspension or revocation of their broadcasting license. If they have their license revoked, how are you going to watch your favorite reality show?
Don’t want to take our word for it? Here’s a link to the FCC guide for consumers on access to emergency information on television.
The FCC regulation requiring this of broadcast stations is Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Part 73, Subpart H, section 73.1250. View it by clicking here.
Make sense?
So the next time you sense yourself debating the meaning of a watch vs a warning, think for a second about tacos and respond accordingly.
Ohio News & Weather is proud to be a Weather Ready Nation ambassador with the National Weather Service. We strive to provide accurate and honest weather information to our followers and the general public. We strive to ensure that those that trust us for weather information are informed and have the proper information in order to take action to prepare and protect themselves in a timely manner.
Sources of information used in this article:
Watch, Warning, Advisory Explained – NWS San Angelo, TX