Why you'll no longer see ‘excessive heat warnings' in the forecast
(NEXSTAR) — It may be hard to think about sweltering temperatures in early March but the National Weather Service is already rolling out changes to the weather alerts used to alert us to the dangers of impending heat.
You may be familiar with 'Excessive Heat Watches' and 'Excessive Heat Warnings,' issued when potentially dangerous heat conditions are in the forecast. Starting this month, those alerts will be no more — sort of.
Like it did with wind chill alerts in fall, the National Weather Service is adjusting the names of its heat watch and warning alert. Instead, dangerous heat conditions will trigger an 'Extreme Heat Watch' or an 'Extreme Heat Warning.'
Why you'll no longer see 'Wind Chill Warnings' this winter
The guidelines are the same as when they were considered 'Excessive' alerts.
An Extreme Heat Watch can be issued when 'conditions are favorable for an extreme heat event but its occurrence and timing is still uncertain.' Guidance from the National Weather Service encourages rescheduling outdoor events and ensuring the most vulnerable — children, the elderly, and pets — have a place to stay cool when watches like this are issued.
When 'extremely dangerous heat conditions are expected or occurring,' an Extreme Heat Warning is issued. You may be encouraged to avoid outdoor activities, remain hydrated, and stay in air-conditioned spaces as much as possible.
Renaming the heat watch and warning is part of NWS's Hazard Simplification Project, which is intended to 'better convey that heat is dangerous.'
A total lunar eclipse and blood moon will be visible in March: How and when to watch
Another heat-related alert, the Heat Advisory, will not be renamed. These are issued when dangerous heat conditions are likely but not severe enough to trigger a watch or warning.
The specific conditions that prompt any heat alert vary by area. The National Weather Service points to Florida, where residents are better prepared for 90-degree heat than in, say, Alaska.
In Wisconsin, for example, daytime heat index values between 100 and 104, or heat indices between 95 and 99 for four consecutive days, can activate a heat advisory from the local National Weather Service office. An extreme heat warning can be activated if the daytime heat index will be 105 or higher or 75 or higher at night for at least 48 hours.
The NWS also provides a HeatRisk tool, a five-point scale that ranks the risk of heat-related impacts nationwide. It takes into account how unusual the high temperatures are for the time of year, how long the heat will last through the day and night, and if the temperatures 'pose an elevated risk of heat-related impacts' according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
22 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Gov. Landry to talk about hurricane preparedness
BATON ROUGE, La. (Louisiana First) — Gov. Jeff Landry and other state leaders are set to talk about what residents need to know to prepare for this year's hurricane season Tuesday afternoon. A news conference with Landry, the Louisiana National Guard, and the Governor's Office of Homeland Security and Emergency Preparedness is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. in Baton Rouge. FEMA chief was joking with hurricane season awareness remarks: DHS The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) predicts an above-normal Atlantic hurricane season for 2025. A range of 13 to 19 named storms is forecasted, with three to five that could become major hurricanes. 'In my 30 years at the National Weather Service, we've never had more advanced models and warning systems in place to monitor the weather,' NOAA's National Weather Service Director Ken Graham said. 'This outlook is a call to action: be prepared. Take proactive steps now to make a plan and gather supplies to ensure you're ready before a storm threatens.' The Louisiana National Guard started its preparation long before June 1, the date that officially marks the start of hurricane season. Leaders from different commands gathered to refine emergency response plans on May 21 in Baton Rouge. 'This is the capstone event in our year-long planning cycle for hurricane season,' said Maj. Gen. Thomas Friloux, adjutant general of Louisiana. 'This isn't a war game. It's about refining real plans, identifying gaps, and ensuring we're ready to act when the time comes.' Gulf policymakers detail efforts to brace for 2025 hurricanes 'Disgusting abomination': Elon Musk tears into Trump megabill Judge extends pause of order invalidating Trump's tariffs Man tried to get witness against him deported by writing letters threatening Trump: Prosecutors Trump DOJ reviewing Biden pardons Gov. Landry to talk about hurricane preparedness Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
CNBC
28 minutes ago
- CNBC
Trump job cuts hobble NOAA team that reopens ports after hurricanes, sources say
A Florida-based federal emergency response team that reopens U.S. ports after storms and accidents is unstaffed this hurricane season largely due to widespread federal workforce reductions driven by the Trump administration, according to two sources familiar with the matter. The closure of the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration's Navigation Response Team in Fernandina, Florida – one of the network's six national locations - could mean slower response times and longer port closures if hurricanes slam into the U.S. Southeast this summer, the sources said. The teams are charged with deploying survey vessels to ports to locate underwater hazards that must be cleared to reopen shipping, and have been crucial in the aftermath of major storms like those that struck the Gulf Coast in recent years, as well as disasters like the 2024 collapse of the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore. "I know that the Florida navigation response team is completely out of commission for this hurricane season, in large part due to staffing cuts," said former NOAA Administrator Richard Spinrad, who has been in contact with the agency. Retired rear admiral Tim Gaulladet, who served as deputy NOAA administrator during the first Trump presidency, also said he is aware that the Florida location is no longer staffed, and that other offices have less capacity. NOAA did not respond to a specific question about the status of the Florida NRT and reduced NRT staffing but said the agency would be prepared this hurricane season. "In the event that ports are impacted by a hurricane or maritime disaster, NOAA will mobilize one or more Navigation Response Teams to be on scene after receiving an official request from the U.S. Coast Guard or Army Corps of Engineers," NOAA spokesperson Jasmine Blackwell NRT locations include Connecticut, Maryland, Mississippi, Washington state, and Galveston, Texas - a major U.S. oil-industry port. The NRT's home website was changed in March to remove both the Florida and Galveston, Texas locations, according to archived images of the site. NOAA did not respond to queries about the status of other locations and employees. The American Pilots Association did not directly comment on the cuts but said they will ensure that their members, consisting of harbor pilots who guide commercial ships in and out of U.S. ports, will continue to carry out this function and that its members who are ship captains and harbor pilots have the resources they need to protect maritime commerce. NOAA's National Weather Service in May forecast an above-average June 1-Nov. 30 hurricane season with six to 10 hurricanes. Its director, Ken Graham, said at the time he did not expect job cuts at NOAA to affect hurricane response. But sources said staff cuts which have amounted to around 1,000 people or 10% of its workforce so far have stretched the agency thin. Around 600 of the cuts are within NOAA's National Weather Service, said Tom Fahy, legislative director for the National Weather Service Employees Organization. He said the cuts mean the loss for the first time of around-the-clock staffing at several U.S. weather offices, and staffing shortages of 40% in some key places like Miami-Dade and Key West in Florida. At least six NWS offices have also stopped the routine twice-a-day weather balloon launches that collect data for weather models, he said. "The employees' resilience has been stretched to the breaking point," he said. While NOAA attempts to reshuffle staff to keep services going, a period of overlapping weather events – like tornadoes, wildfires and hurricanes all at once - could push the already stretched staff to its limits and make things impossible, said Spinrad. "This is like playing Whac-a-Mole with forecasters," he said. "We're going to be hard pressed to provide the standard of service that the public is used to."
Fast Company
43 minutes ago
- Fast Company
‘Cuts have consequences': A South Florida meteorologist explains Trump's NOAA cuts are degrading weather forecasts
For more than 30 years, meteorologist John Morales has broadcasted weather forecasts to South Floridians, warning the hurricane-prone region about the storms headed toward its coast. But now, Morales's ability to give accurate, quality forecasts to those residents is being hampered because of the recent federal government cuts to science and climate research. The Trump administration has laid off thousands of workers at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, the agency responsible for the National Weather Service and the National Hurricane center, amid other resources. Already, National Weather Service offices across the country are short staffed, and the department has curtailed its data collection—like launching fewer weather balloons. With fewer staff and data, weather forecasts are becoming less accurate. This means residents won't have the weather information they need about approaching storms like hurricanes. Morales illustrated this point in a recent broadcast on NBC 6 South Florida by looking back at a forecast he did six years ago, concerning Hurricane Dorian, a category 5 storm that decimated the northwest Bahamas. In the clip, he acknowledged that viewers had anxiety because it looked as if the storm was heading straight toward South Florida. But Morales had assured them: 'It's going to turn [away from the coast]. The turn was never forecast to be on Sunday. …The turn will come Monday afternoon, Monday evening into Tuesday.' 'Remember that?' Morales said in the broadcast after the old clip played. He had been right, and, thanks to proper data collection and forecasting, was able to ensure viewers were prepared. 'Confidently I went on TV and told you, it's going to turn, you don't need to worry,' he said. 'I'm here to tell you that I'm not sure I can do that this year, because of the cuts, the gutting, the sledgehammer attack on science in general.' National Weather Service offices across South and Central Florida are already 20-40% understaffed, Morales noted. There's also been a 20% reduction in weather balloon launches, which collect atmospheric data like wind speed, humidity, pressure, and so on. 'And what were starting to see,' Morales continued, 'is that the quality of the forecast is becoming degraded.' Because of federal government cuts, it's likely hurricane hunter aircrafts won't be able to fly this year, he added. Hurricane hunters fly directly into the eye of storms in order to make forecasts even more accurate, thanks to real-time data. 'With less reconnaissance missions,' Morales said, 'we may be flying blind.' That's especially dire considering this year's hurricane season is expected to come with an ' above-average ' number of storms. Last year was an intense hurricane season too, with five billion-dollar events and a total of more than $124 billion in damage. (The Trump administration has since cut NOAA's ability to track the cost of climate change-related weather disasters, so it's not clear if we'll know just how damaging this year's hurricane season ends up being.) For Morales South Florida viewers, all these federal cuts mean they may not know how strong a hurricane is before it reaches the coastline, he added, leaving them unprepared in the face of what could be a disastrous storm season. Morales has been forecasting the weather in South Florida for 34 years, and this isn't the first time he's spoken out about a dire reality. In October 2024, as Hurricane Milton was barreling toward Florida's west coast, Morales got emotional describing the storm's intensity. 'This is just horrific,' he had said then, while also making it clear to his viewers that record-hot seas, fueled by climate change, were driving that escalation. Scientists and meteorologists have been trying to translate the costs of the Trump administration's federal cuts to everyday Americans. Morales's broadcast does so bluntly. When sharing the clip to his Buesky account, Morales captioned it with the quip 'Cuts have consequences, illustrated.' And he ended the television segment with a call to action, as many scientists have been during the Trump administration. 'I just want you to know that what you need to do is call your representatives,' he told viewers, 'and make sure that these cuts are stopped.'
