This page provides a download interface to IEM processed metadata/geometries associated with National Weather Service VTEC-enabled watch, warning, and advisory events. You can download this information on-demand in a zip-file (containing a shapefile + CSV), KML, or Microsoft Excel format.
If you are looking for a real-time source of warning shapefiles, you can find that here.
Download Limit: If you do not limit the state or WFO output,
you are limited to downloading 1 year of data at a time. The reason being
to keep the requests from timing out as the response content is delivered on
the fly.
Related Services
Custom Download
Backend Documentation for scripting against this service.
Shapefile DBF Schema
A discussion of the schema can be found on the FAQ Page for this dataset.
Pre-generated Zip Files
These files are same as you could download from the form on the left, just you don't have to wait so long! A script runs at around 2 AM Central Time each day to dump the current year's data. The date stamps with each file denote when they were generated.
| Year | All | Limit Tor,Svr,Mar,FF | Limit Storm Based Tor,Svr,Mar,FF |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Zip (6.2 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (6.2 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 1987 | Zip (5.16 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (5.16 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 1988 | Zip (5.1 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (5.1 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 1989 | Zip (7.57 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (7.57 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 1990 | Zip (9.53 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (9.53 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 1991 | Zip (9.23 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (9.23 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 1992 | Zip (9.17 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (9.17 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 1993 | Zip (10.13 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (10.13 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 1994 | Zip (11.13 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (11.13 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 1995 | Zip (16.08 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (16.08 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 1996 | Zip (18.26 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (18.26 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 1997 | Zip (17.88 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (17.88 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 1998 | Zip (23.43 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (23.43 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 1999 | Zip (19.34 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (19.34 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 2000 | Zip (19.06 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (19.06 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 2001 | Zip (19.31 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (19.31 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 2002 | Zip (26.52 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (26.52 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (2.39 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2003 | Zip (28.12 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (28.12 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (3.7 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2004 | Zip (29.49 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (29.49 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (4.18 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2005 | Zip (88.79 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (25.21 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (4.27 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2006 | Zip (179.33 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (29.31 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (5.17 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2007 | Zip (193.31 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (26.31 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (4.34 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2008 | Zip (277.36 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (48.01 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (6.62 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2009 | Zip (280.11 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (42.09 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (5.44 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2010 | Zip (297.04 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (39.82 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (5.26 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2011 | Zip (307.25 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (53.74 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (6.64 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2012 | Zip (282.84 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (41.84 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (5.31 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2013 | Zip (265.98 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (36.41 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (4.76 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2014 | Zip (269.24 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (33.66 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (4.52 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2015 | Zip (264.37 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (38.51 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (5.26 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2016 | Zip (248.22 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (37.75 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (5.03 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2017 | Zip (255.16 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (38.95 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (5.23 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2018 | Zip (266.85 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (36.21 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (5 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2019 | Zip (271.98 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (42.64 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (5.82 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2020 | Zip (259.78 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (39.62 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (5.02 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2021 | Zip (284.21 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (39.01 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (5.23 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2022 | Zip (313.79 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (41.29 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (5.42 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2023 | Zip (326.82 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (47.34 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (6.49 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2024 | Zip (335.01 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (45.31 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (6.19 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2025 | Zip (188.26 MB, 02 Jul 2025) | Zip (32.34 MB, 02 Jul 2025) | Zip (4.18 MB, 02 Jul 2025) |
Service Changes
10 Apr 2024: Polygons associated with CANcel VTEC
events when the event is still active for other areas have been culled from
the database and thus this portal. These were not providing any value and
were confusing users.
12 Mar 2019: Added
UPDATED column to the
dataset providing the timestamp of the most recent NWS Text Product for
the event.
3 Feb 2016: This service used to allow the download
of the high-resolution AWIPS counties/zones shapes. Sadly, the size
of these polygons would overwhelm the backend data service. So now
this service only returns the simplified county/zone polygons. You
may wish to do a join against the
AWIPS Geodatabase to
get the high resolution depiction. The
NWS_UGC column is what
you would use to join.
Archive Status
| Dataset Component | Start Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Tornado Severe T'storm Flash Flood Special Marine |
1 Jan 2002 (Polygons) 1 Jan 1986 (Counties) |
Only the initial polygon is used. Polygon updates in the SVS statements are ignored. The VTEC attributes didn't appear until they became operational. |
| All VTEC watch/warn | 12 Nov 2005 | Products other than Tornado and Severe Thunderstorm Warnings. |
| SVR,TOR Watch by County | 12 Nov 2005 |
Publications Citing IEM Data (View All)
These are the most recent 10 publications that have cited the usage of data from this page. This list is not exhaustive, so please let us know if you have a publication that should be added.
- Cooke, A. 2025, Real-time enhanced tornado warning product guidance based on tornado debris signature height and population density. Mississippi State University Masters Thesis https://www.proquest.com/docview/3217844942
- Zhou, S. Q. Huang, et al. 2025, TALES OF THE 2025 LOS ANGELES FIRE: HOTWASH FOR PUBLIC HEALTH CONCERNS IN REDDIT VIA LLM-ENHANCED TOPIC MODELING. arXiv:2505.09665v2 [cs.SI] 16 May 2025 https://arxiv.org/pdf/2505.09665
- Burrow, D., K. Kressler, et al. 2025, Verifications of Tornado- and Flash Flood-Warned Storms in the Southeast United States. Meteorological Applications, 2025; 32:e70062 https://doi.org/10.1002/met.70062
- Braun, R., M. Fraser. 2025, Influence of Wildfire Smoke on Summertime Surface Air Quality in an Urban Desert Region. Atmospheric Environment https://doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2025.121297
- Adegbola, F., A. Crooks et al. 2025, Crowdsourcing dust storms in the United States utilizing social media data. GeoJournal 90, 110 https://doi.org/10.1007/s10708-025-11359-9
- Muriqi, D., J. Bayham, et al. 2025, Inland Flooding in the United States: A Review of Research Related to Risk Management, Economic Behavior, and Data Resources. Environ. Res. Lett. https://doi.org/10.1088/1748-9326/add35e
- Stevenson, P., C. Nowotarski, et al. 2025, Near-cell environments of tropical cyclone tornadoes. J. Operational Meteor., 13 (5), 48-68 https://doi.org/10.15191/nwajom.2025.1305
- Baker, C., S. Van Den Broeke. Southerly high-wind events in Southern New England: Climatology and synoptic setting. J. Operational Meteor., 13 (3), 27-43 https://doi.org/10.15191/nwajom.2025.1303
- Criss, R., E. Stein, et al. 2025, A Cost-Effective Flood Warning System for Small Urban Basins. J. Earth Sci. 36, 307–313 https://doi.org/10.1007/s12583-024-0012-5
- Lee, S., A. Bose. 2025, Capturing Infrastructure Interdependencies for Power Outages Prediction During Extreme Events. 2024 IEEE International Conference on Big Data (BigData). https://doi.org/10.1109/BigData62323.2024.10825596