Wikipedia

Extreme wind warning

Not to be confused with Tornado warning or High wind warning.

An extreme wind warning (SAME code EWW) is an alert issued by the National Weather Service for areas on land that will experience sustained surface winds 100 knots (115 mph, 185 km/h, 51 m/s) or greater within one hour. As of 2024, it has only been used for the eyewalls of major[a] tropical cyclones when they pass near-shore, and during and shortly after landfall, but it is also intended as a general "short-fused"[1] warning for any immediate occurrence of such winds. Extreme wind warnings are issued for as precise of an area as possible, in like manner as a tornado warning, to provide guidance to the general public at the county and sub-county level when such winds pose a significant threat of casualties. They cannot be issued earlier than two hours before the onset of extreme winds.[2] The extreme wind warning should not be confused with a high wind warning, which is similar, but is used over a typically broader area for longer-term wind events of at least gale-force.

Category 3 Hurricane Matthew's close passage of Brevard County, Florida on the morning of October 7, 2016 prompted the issuance of the first Extreme Wind Warning.

History

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The extreme wind warning was created out of a need for an unambiguous bulletin of equivalent priority as a tornado warning for the extreme winds of a major hurricane's eyewall, particularly after Hurricane Charley and Hurricane Jeanne struck Florida in 2004. Prior to the advent of the warning, similar bulletins were often embedded in, and issued as tornado warnings to give them higher visibility and urgency. During the passage of Charley across the state, the National Weather Service weather forecast office in Melbourne, Florida, issued such an ad hoc "tornado" warning after the office's forecasters determined that the active hurricane warnings did not sufficiently convey the severity and imminence of Charley's eyewall over central Florida.[3] The forecast office also issued similar "tornado" warnings as the strong winds of Jeanne moved ashore from the east later that year.[1] The nonconventional usage of tornado warnings for extreme hurricane winds was praised by emergency management, citing it as an ingenious method of protecting lives.[4] In December 2004, the Melbourne forecast office briefed attendees at an annual NOAA Hurricane Conference on their use of the special tornado warning, advocating and eventually reaching consensus for a specialized official National Weather Service product for extreme winds.[1]

The new warning was standardized in its experimental stages in 2005, so weather forecast offices continued to use special tornado warnings to broadcast the threat of severe wind during the landfalls of Hurricanes Dennis, Katrina, Rita, and Wilma. The wind and timing thresholds that eventually became the criteria of extreme wind warnings were also used as thresholds for these special tornado warnings in 2005.[2] The warnings, termed Extreme Tropical Cyclone Destructive Wind Warnings, advised residents to take sturdy shelter in the interior portions of well-built structures. During Katrina, the weather services serving the Jackson and New Orleans and Baton Rouge, Louisiana forecast areas issued 19 warnings. Public response to these warnings was mixed, praising their specificity but finding their placement within tornado warnings confusing, particularly when they were issued near traditional tornado warnings. The advice of taking interior low-level shelter given in the wind warnings also contradicted the advice given in Hurricane Local Statements of taking interior shelter in elevated floors for storm surge-prone areas. NOAA/NWS recommendations called for the development of an extreme wind warning independent from tornado warnings and increased outreach for the warning.[4]

The following year, extreme wind warnings continued to be packaged within special tornado warnings for public evaluation,[5] and the warning became its own official independent product by the 2007 Atlantic hurricane season,[6] though no hurricane would trigger an extreme wind warning for nearly another decade. Despite the newly independent warning system, until the 2015 Atlantic hurricane season, the Emergency Alert System continued to broadcast EWWs as tornado warnings (using the TOR event code).[4] On the morning of October 7, 2016, the nearby passage of Category 3 Hurricane Matthew just off Cape Canaveral prompted the first issuance of an extreme wind warning.[7] In 2023, the National Weather Service in Guam was granted the ability to issue EWWs, and on May 24, 2023, the first extreme wind warning was issued in the Western Pacific, as a result of Typhoon Mawar.[8]

Issuances

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Extreme wind warnings issued by the National Weather Service
Date Event State / Territory Location Weather Forecast Office
October 7, 2016 Hurricane Matthew Florida Brevard MLB (Melbourne, FL)[9]
August 25, 2017 Hurricane Harvey Texas Aransas, Calhoun, Nueces, San Patricio, Refugio CRP (Corpus Christi, TX)[10]
September 6, 2017 Hurricane Irma U.S. Virgin Islands Saint John, Saint Thomas SJU (San Juan, PR)[11]
September 10, 2017 Florida Monroe (two separate warnings) KEY (Key West, FL)[12]
Collier (two separate warnings) MFL (Miami, FL)[13]
Lee TBW (Tampa Bay Area–Ruskin, FL)[14]
September 20, 2017 Hurricane Maria Puerto Rico Aguas Buenas, Bayamón, Canóvanas, Carolina, Cidra, Guaynabo, Río Grande, San Juan, Trujillo Alto SJU (San Juan, PR)[15]
October 10, 2018 Hurricane Michael Alabama, Florida, Georgia Florida: Bay, Franklin, Gulf TLH (Tallahassee, FL)[16][17][18][19]
Florida: Jackson, Gulf, Bay, Calhoun, Liberty, Washington
Florida: Jackson, Gadsden, Holmes, Washington
Georgia: Decatur, Seminole
Alabama: Houston
Florida: Jackson
Georgia: Decatur, Miller, Early, Seminole
August 26, 2020 Hurricane Laura Louisiana, Texas Louisiana: Cameron, Jefferson Davis, Beauregard, Acadia, Calcasieu, Vermilion, Allen
Texas: Jefferson, Newton, Hardin, Orange, Jasper 		LCH (Lake Charles, LA) issued by BRO (Brownsville, TX)†[20][21][22]
August 27, 2020 Louisiana: Cameron, Jefferson Davis, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Allen
Texas: Newton, Orange
Louisiana: Cameron, Jefferson Davis, Beauregard, Calcasieu, Vernon, Allen
Texas: Newton, Orange, Jasper
August 29, 2021 Hurricane Ida Louisiana Jefferson, Lafourche, Plaquemines, St. Bernard, St. Charles, Terrebonne, St. John the Baptist LIX (New Orleans, LA)[23]
September 28, 2022 Hurricane Ian Florida Lee, Charlotte, Sarasota, DeSoto, Manatee, Hardee, Highlands, Polk TBW (Tampa Bay Area–Ruskin, FL)[24][25][26]
May 24, 2023 Typhoon Mawar Guam Dededo, Yigo, Tamuning GUM (Tiyan, GU)[27]
August 30, 2023 Hurricane Idalia Florida Dixie, Lafayette, Madison, Taylor TAE (Tallahassee, FL)[28][29][30]
Suwannee JAX (Jacksonville, FL)[31]
September 26, 2024 Hurricane Helene Florida, Georgia Florida: Dixie, Jefferson, Lafayette, Leon, Madison, Taylor, Wakulla

Georgia: Brooks, Lowndes, Thomas

TAE (Tallahassee, FL) [32]
September 27, 2024 Georgia, Florida Georgia: Echols

Florida: Suwannee, Hamilton

JAX (Jacksonville, FL) issued by LIX (New Orleans, LA)† 
October 9, 2024 Hurricane Milton Florida Hillsborough, Manatee, Pinellas TBW (Tampa Bay Area–Ruskin, FL)[33]
† – Issued by an alternative WFO under continuance of operations; for example, a WFO under shelter or closed due to impending hurricane impacts.

Example

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The following is an example of an Extreme Wind Warning from the National Weather Service office in Ruskin, Florida (TBW) during the landfall of Hurricane Milton. 

404
WFUS52 KTBW 092236
EWWTBW
FLC057-081-103-100130-
/O.NEW.KTBW.EW.W.0001.241009T2236Z-241010T0130Z/

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
Extreme Wind Warning
National Weather Service Tampa Bay Area Ruskin FL
636 PM EDT Wed Oct 9 2024

The National Weather Service in Ruskin has issued a

* Extreme Wind Warning for...
  Manatee County in west central Florida...
  Pinellas County in west central Florida...
  Hillsborough County in west central Florida...

* Until 930 PM EDT.

* At 635 PM EDT, National Weather Service Doppler radar indicated
  extreme winds, associated with the eyewall of Hurricane Milton,
  were moving onshore along a line extending from 6 miles southwest
  of South Bradenton to 25 miles southwest of Anna Maria to 52 miles
  southwest of Saint Armands Key, moving northeast at 30 mph. THIS
  IS AN EXTREMELY DANGEROUS AND LIFE-THREATENING SITUATION!

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

TAKE COVER NOW! Treat these imminent extreme winds as if a tornado
was approaching and move immediately to the safe room in your
shelter. Take action now to protect your life!

&&

A Tornado Watch remains in effect until 900 PM EDT for west central
Florida.

LAT...LON 2812 8289 2815 8206 2739 8209 2739 8260
      2735 8268 2786 8291
TIME...MOT...LOC 2235Z 242DEG 27KT 2740 8267 2735 8309 2699 8334

$$

TBW

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Category 3 intensity or higher on the Saffir-Simpson scale

References

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  1. ^ a b c Spratt, Scott M.; Hagemeyer, Bartlett C.; Jacobs, David L. (2006). Providing Short-Fused Warnings for the Onset of Extreme Hurricane Winds—A Final Opportunity to Minimize Casualties (PDF). NWS Forecast Office Melbourne, Florida (Report). Melbourne, Florida: National Weather Service. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  2. ^ a b "Extreme Wind Warning (EWW)" (PDF). National Weather Service. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  3. ^ Branom, Mike (4 July 2018). "Hurricane Charley: The Night the NWS Used a Wrench as a Hammer". Weatherwise. 71 (4): 12–19. Bibcode:2018Weawi..71d..12B. doi:10.1080/00431672.2018.1470882.
  4. ^ a b c Schott, Timothy. "Request for a new Event Code for the Extreme Wind Warning in Part 11 rules, Subpart B, Section 11.31(e)" (PDF). Federal Communications Commission. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  5. ^ Pierce, Therese Z. (May 10, 2006). "Soliciting Comments by November 15, 2006 for Tropical Cyclone Extreme Wind Warning Product" (TXT). Washington, DC: National Weather Service. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  6. ^ Hagemeyer, Bartlett C. (January 14, 2009). The extreme wind warning and its role in improving public preparation and response to extreme landfalling hurricane winds in the urban environment. Symposium on Urban High Impact Weather. Phoenix, Arionza: The Conference Exchange.
  7. ^ Dildine, Dave (October 6, 2016). "Hurricane Matthew could prompt new weather warning for first time". Washington, D.C.: WTOP. Retrieved October 17, 2018.
  8. ^ "NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE INSTRUCTION 10-601" (PDF). National Weather Service. April 25, 2023. Retrieved May 24, 2023.
  9. ^ "Extreme Wind Warning". Iowa Environmental Mesonet. National Weather Service office in Melbourne, Florida. 7 October 2016. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  10. ^ "Extreme Wind Warning". Iowa Environmental Mesonet. National Weather Service office in Corpus Christi, Texas. 25 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  11. ^ "Extreme Wind Warning". Iowa Environmental Mesonet. National Weather Service office in Corpus Christi, Texas. 25 August 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  12. ^ "Extreme Wind Warning". Iowa Environmental Mesonet. National Weather Service office in Key West, Florida. 10 September 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  13. ^ "Extreme Wind Warning". Iowa Environmental Mesonet. National Weather Service office in Miami, Florida. 10 September 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  14. ^ "Extreme Wind Warning". Iowa Environmental Mesonet. National Weather Service office in Ruskin, Florida. 10 September 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  15. ^ "Extreme Wind Warning". Iowa Environmental Mesonet. National Weather Service office in San Juan, Puerto Rico. 10 September 2017. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  16. ^ "Extreme Wind Warning". Iowa Environmental Mesonet. National Weather Service office in Tallahassee, Florida. 10 October 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  17. ^ "Extreme Wind Warning". Iowa Environmental Mesonet. National Weather Service office in Tallahassee, Florida. 10 October 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  18. ^ "Extreme Wind Warning". Iowa Environmental Mesonet. National Weather Service office in Tallahassee, Florida. 10 October 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  19. ^ "Extreme Wind Warning". Iowa Environmental Mesonet. National Weather Service office in Tallahassee, Florida. 10 October 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2024.
  20. ^ "Extreme Wind Warning". Iowa Environmental Mesonet. National Weather Service office in Brownsville, Texas. 26 August 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  21. ^ "Extreme Wind Warning". Iowa Environmental Mesonet. National Weather Service office in Brownsville, Texas. 27 August 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  22. ^ "Extreme Wind Warning". Iowa Environmental Mesonet. National Weather Service office in Brownsville, Texas. 27 August 2020. Retrieved 28 August 2020.
  23. ^ "2021 [KLIX] NEW_ORLEANS Extreme Wind (EW) Warning (W) Number 1". Retrieved 2021-08-29.
  24. ^ "Extreme Wind Warning". Iowa Environmental Mesonet. National Weather Service office in Ruskin, Florida. 28 September 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  25. ^ "Extreme Wind Warning". Iowa Environmental Mesonet. National Weather Service office in Ruskin, Florida. 28 September 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  26. ^ "Extreme Wind Warning". Iowa Environmental Mesonet. National Weather Service office in Ruskin, Florida. 28 September 2022. Retrieved 2 October 2022.
  27. ^ "Extreme Wind Warning". Iowa Environmental Mesonet. National Weather Service office in Tiyan, Guam. 24 May 2023. Retrieved 24 May 2023.
  28. ^ "Extreme Wind Warning". Iowa Environmental Mesonet. National Weather Service office in Tallahassee, Florida. 30 Aug 2023. Retrieved 30 Aug 2023.
  29. ^ "Extreme Wind Warning". Iowa Environmental Mesonet. National Weather Service office in Tallahassee, Florida. 30 Aug 2023. Retrieved 30 Aug 2023.
  30. ^ "Extreme Wind Warning". Iowa Environmental Mesonet. National Weather Service office in Tallahassee, Florida. 30 Aug 2023. Retrieved 30 Aug 2023.
  31. ^ "Extreme Wind Warning". Iowa Environmental Mesonet. National Weather Service office in Jacksonville, Florida. 30 Aug 2023. Retrieved 30 Aug 2023.
  32. ^ "Extreme Wind Warning". Iowa Environmental Mesonet. National Weather Service office in Tallahassee, Florida. September 26, 2024. Retrieved October 9, 2024.
  33. ^ "Extreme Wind Warning". Iowa Environmental Mesonet. National Weather Service office in Ruskin, Florida. October 9, 2024. Retrieved October 9, 2024.

  This article incorporates public domain material from websites or documents of the National Weather Service.

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