SEC Alerts, Warnings and Watches

1. Alerts: Alerts are based on observations (i.e., “nowcast”) of events or activity seen in real-time. The purpose of an alert is to provide notification once an event threshold has been reached. Warning: A warning is a short-term, high confidence prediction (i.e., forecast) of imminent activity. The purpose of a warning is notification of impending space weather activity a few minutes up to a few hours in advance. Watch: A watch is issued when conditions are favorable for a certain level of activity to occur. The purpose of a watch is to give preliminary notification of possible severe space weather with a lead-time of days. X Current AWW X* Rapid Alerts x Future additional AWW R1 - R5, G1 - G5, S1 - S5 Alert and Warning Advisories are slated as future enhancements in the next 12 months SEC Alerts, Warnings and Watches Kenneth L. Tegnell NOAA Space Environment Center Abstract Current and Anticipated AWWs What are Alerts, Warnings and Watches? SEC is the Nation’s official source of space weather alerts, warnings and watches (AWW). The AWW notifies real-time users worldwide of critical current and expected conditions. The disseminations of AWWs is done via the Web, fax, NOAA Weather Wire, radio broadcast WWV, and voice message. The nature of these messages is illustrated. New and altered AWWs are planned for the next 12 months and are summarized here. T AWW Customers Common Effects