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Weather & Natural Hazards

Watches, warnings & getting alerts

Start here. Two simple skills keep you ahead of almost any Missouri hazard: knowing the difference between a watch and a warning, and setting up at least two ways to be warned — including one that will wake you in the middle of the night.

Learn these three words

Watch, warning, advisory

Watch

Be ready.

Conditions are favorable for dangerous weather, but it isn't happening yet and the exact place and time are still uncertain. Make your plan and stay alert. Think of the ingredients sitting on the counter.

Warning

Act now.

The dangerous weather is happening, about to happen, or showing up on radar. Take the protective action immediately. Think of the ingredients now in the oven.

Advisory

Use caution.

A hazardous event less severe than a warning — but it can still threaten life or property if you don't take precautions. Don't shrug it off; take the precaution it calls for.

Never wait for a watch

A watch may never turn into a warning, and a warning can be issued with no watch before it — so never wait for a watch before you act on a warning.

"Emergency" is the strongest wording

A 'Tornado Emergency' or 'Flash Flood Emergency' is not a separate alert level — it's the strongest possible wording inside an existing warning, used when there's a severe threat to life. If you ever see it, act instantly.

Get warned — two ways, at least

The tools that reach you

No single tool is perfect, so stack a few. The non-negotiable one is something that will wake you at night.

NOAA Weather Radio — your indoor siren

A NOAA Weather Radio (All Hazards) is your indoor siren — the one alert that will wake you at 3 a.m. for a tornado you'd otherwise sleep through. Get one with battery backup and a SAME (county-programmable) tone alarm, program it for your county, and it will sound only for the alerts you choose. For overnight storms, it's the single best tool you can own.

Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA)

Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) are the free messages that buzz capable phones in or near a threatened area — for all Tornado Warnings, the most dangerous 'Destructive'-tagged Severe Thunderstorm Warnings (winds 80 mph or more, or hail 2.75 inches or larger), the most serious (Considerable or Catastrophic) Flash Flood Warnings, and other extreme hazards. There's no signup, but your phone has to be WEA-capable, turned on, connected, and set to receive them — so check your phone's emergency-alert settings now. WEA does not cover every hazard, so don't rely on it alone.

Your county's alert system

Your county's own alert system can text or email you for local emergencies. Search your county name plus 'emergency management' plus 'alerts' and sign up. It's the layer that catches local dangers the national systems may not.

A weather app, TV & radio

Round it out with a trusted weather app that pushes alerts and your local TV and radio stations, who carry live coverage when the warnings fly.

A siren is not your indoor warning

Outdoor warning sirens, honestly

Outdoor warning sirens (call them that — not just 'tornado sirens') are built to warn people who are OUTSIDE; they are not a reliable indoor warning and were never meant to be. They usually sound for about three minutes, and 'stopped' does NOT mean 'safe' — the danger can still be there. What sets them off varies by town and county: some sound only for tornadoes, others for destructive wind or other emergencies, and many rural areas have no sirens at all. Ask your city or county what its sirens mean — and never rely on them to wake you indoors.

Find your forecasters

6 NWS offices serve Missouri — look yours up

Several National Weather Service offices serve Missouri, and the boundaries don't follow tidy regional lines — so look yours up. Type your ZIP code into weather.gov to find your local office and its forecasts, warnings, and river levels. The national Storm Prediction Center issues the big tornado and severe-thunderstorm watches that cover wide areas.

The Storm Prediction Center is the national office that issues the large Tornado Watches and Severe Thunderstorm Watches — the 'be ready' alerts that can cover dozens of counties at once.

Do this today

Set up your alerts in five minutes

The goal is at least two ways to get warned — including one that will wake you at night.

  1. Turn on Wireless Emergency Alerts in your phone's settings (check that they're enabled).
  2. Buy and program a battery-backed NOAA Weather Radio with a SAME tone alarm for your county.
  3. Sign up for your county's emergency alert system (text or email).
  4. Save your local National Weather Service page (find it by ZIP at weather.gov).
  5. Twice a year, test your alerts and replace the radio's backup batteries.

Weather alert questions people ask first

Is an outdoor siren enough?

No. Sirens are mainly for people outside. Use alerts that reach you inside, including one that can wake you at night.

What should wake me up?

A NOAA Weather Radio is the usual backup for nighttime warnings. Wireless Emergency Alerts and county alerts are useful too, but no single tool is perfect.

Who issues the warning?

The National Weather Service issues watches and warnings. Your county, city, school, road agency, or utility may add local instructions.

Which forecast office covers my county?

Several NWS offices serve Missouri. Use weather.gov by ZIP code or county, then follow the office that covers your location.

Next

Now that the alerts will reach you, learn the protective action for each hazard — tornadoes, flooding, winter & ice, heat, lightning & wind, and earthquakes — then build your plan & kit.

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