Archived NWS Watch/Warnings
This page allows you to generate a custom GIS shapefile or Google Earth KML of NWS issued watches and warnings for a time period of your choice. Please be sure to read the archive status and dbf schema below. The IEM's archive is certainly not complete or official. If you are looking for a real-time source of warning shapefiles, you can find that here.
Due to transient server load or other issues,
this application sometimes fails to
generate output. You may wish to try shorting the duration of your
request or email us for help.
Shapefile DBF schema:
| WFO | Three letter ID for issuing Weather Forecast Office |
|---|---|
| ISSUED | String representing product initial valid UTC timestamp YYYYMMDDHHMM |
| EXPIRED | String representing product expiration, this is not the original product expiration, but the actual time the product was no longer valid. For example, the product could have been extended in time or cancelled. |
| INIT_ISS | String representing the issuance time of the product UTC timestamp YYYYMMDDHHMM |
| INIT_EXP | String representing the initial time of the product expiration UTC timestamp YYYYMMDDHHMM |
| PHENOM | VTEC phenomena code. Ex) SV == Severe Thunderstorm , TO == Tornado |
| GTYPE | Geographical type of polygon. C == County, P == Polygon |
| SIG | VTEC significance. Ex) A == Watch, W == Warning |
| ETN | VTEC Event Tracking Number |
| STATUS | The three character code for the VTEC status field. ie EXP, CAN, NEW. For the case
of polygons of GTYPE='P' (Storm Based Warnings), the STATUS code is always
NEW. For all other cases, this STATUS is the last status parsed for the associated
WWA product. |
| NWS_UGC | NWS code used for a zone of a county |
| AREA_KM2 | Area of the geometry in sq kilometers (Projection: EPSG 2163) |
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! The current year's data is current up until roughly 2 AM this morning.
| Year | All | Limit Tor,Svr,Mar,FF | Limit Storm Based Tor,Svr,Mar,FF |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Zip (9 MB) | Zip (9 MB) | N/A (0 MB) |
| 1987 | Zip (6.63 MB) | Zip (6.63 MB) | N/A (0 MB) |
| 1988 | Zip (6.78 MB) | Zip (6.78 MB) | N/A (0 MB) |
| 1989 | Zip (10.56 MB) | Zip (10.56 MB) | N/A (0 MB) |
| 1990 | Zip (12.78 MB) | Zip (12.78 MB) | N/A (0 MB) |
| 1991 | Zip (12.46 MB) | Zip (12.46 MB) | N/A (0 MB) |
| 1992 | Zip (12.27 MB) | Zip (12.27 MB) | N/A (0 MB) |
| 1993 | Zip (13.84 MB) | Zip (13.84 MB) | N/A (0 MB) |
| 1994 | Zip (14.87 MB) | Zip (14.87 MB) | N/A (0 MB) |
| 1995 | Zip (24.51 MB) | Zip (24.51 MB) | N/A (0 MB) |
| 1996 | Zip (25.77 MB) | Zip (25.77 MB) | N/A (0 MB) |
| 1997 | Zip (25.1 MB) | Zip (25.1 MB) | N/A (0 MB) |
| 1998 | Zip (33.08 MB) | Zip (33.08 MB) | N/A (0 MB) |
| 1999 | Zip (24.5 MB) | Zip (24.5 MB) | N/A (0 MB) |
| 2000 | Zip (26.23 MB) | Zip (26.23 MB) | N/A (0 MB) |
| 2001 | Zip (25.3 MB) | Zip (25.3 MB) | N/A (0 MB) |
| 2002 | Zip (2.77 MB) | Zip (2.77 MB) | Zip (0.95 MB) |
| 2003 | Zip (3.49 MB) | Zip (3.49 MB) | Zip (1.53 MB) |
| 2004 | Zip (3.78 MB) | Zip (3.78 MB) | Zip (1.75 MB) |
| 2005 | Zip (6.68 MB) | Zip (4.37 MB) | Zip (1.76 MB) |
| 2006 | Zip (12.7 MB) | Zip (5.01 MB) | Zip (2.19 MB) |
| 2007 | Zip (13.87 MB) | Zip (4.76 MB) | Zip (2.04 MB) |
| 2008 | Zip (15.86 MB) | Zip (6.29 MB) | Zip (2.88 MB) |
| 2009 | Zip (19.51 MB) | Zip (6.49 MB) | Zip (2.58 MB) |
| 2010 | Zip (20 MB) | Zip (6.29 MB) | Zip (2.45 MB) |
| 2011 | Zip (22.58 MB) | Zip (7.85 MB) | Zip (3.13 MB) |
| 2012 | Zip (19.24 MB) | Zip (6.23 MB) | Zip (2.45 MB) |
| 2013 | Zip (18.08 MB) | Zip (5.69 MB) | Zip (2.17 MB) |
| 2014 | Zip (113.32 MB) | Zip (19.23 MB) | Zip (2.05 MB) |
| 2015 | Zip (107.24 MB) | Zip (21.34 MB) | Zip (2.44 MB) |
| 2016 | Zip (105.06 MB) | Zip (20.4 MB) | Zip (2.31 MB) |
| 2017 | Zip (112.75 MB) | Zip (21.33 MB) | Zip (2.41 MB) |
| 2018 | Zip (56.72 MB) | Zip (7.77 MB) | Zip (0.94 MB) |
Service changes:
- 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_UGCcolumn 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 TOR, SVR |
| SVR,TOR Watch by County | 12 Nov 2005 |