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 (329.41 MB, 31 Dec 2025) | Zip (48.03 MB, 31 Dec 2025) | Zip (5.93 MB, 31 Dec 2025) |
| 2026 | Zip (16.78 MB, 19 Jan 2026) | Zip (0.39 MB, 19 Jan 2026) | Zip (0.05 MB, 19 Jan 2026) |
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.
- Black-Ingersoll, F, M. Willis, et al. 2026, Climate resilience adaptation and psychiatric emergency services utilization during extreme heat in Boston, MA: a difference-in-differences analysis. Environment International. Volume 207 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.envint.2025.110007
- Bock, Y., B. Chandna, et al. 2025, Real-Time Flash-Flood Prediction Using GNSS Water Vapor Observations and Deep Learning. https://doi.org/10.22541/essoar.176677195.53603556/v1
- Welch, H., B. Holycross, et al. 2025, Fishing fleets as ecosystem sentinels. Ecology. 122 (52) https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2516308122
- Richie II, C. 2025, A CLIMATOLOGY OF NORTHERN PLAINS TORNADOES WITH REGARD TO RADAR COVERAGE. Masters of Science. University of North Dakota https://www.proquest.com/docview/3291770425
- Hosek, M. 2025, Application of Machine Learning for Dryline Climatologies and Extended-Range Severe Weather Forecasts. University of Oklahoma. PhD Thesis https://www.proquest.com/docview/3280296535
- Schmidt, J. 2025, Using Random Forest Machine Learning to Identify Homes at High Risk from Wildfires in California Counties. MPRA Paper https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/id/eprint/126685
- Rafizadeh, C., M. Michaud, et al. 2025, Do We Have Your Attention? Tracking Eye Movements and Assessing Viewer Preferences During Television Weather Warnings. Weather, Climate, and Society. https://doi.org/10.1175/WCAS-D-25-0006.1
- Pankratz, H., A. Molthan, et al. 2025, The Utility of InSAR Coherence for Tornado Damage Track Identification from the 2-3 March 2020 Tennessee Tornado Outbreak. Journal of Applied Meteorology and Climatology. https://doi.org/10.1175/JAMC-D-25-0024.1
- Lee, S., S. Chinthavali, et al. 2025, Evaluating Multi-Weather Impacts on the U.S. Power Grid Reliability. IEEE International Conference on Information Reuse and Integration and Data Science (IRI), San Jose, CA, USA, 2025, pp. 55-60 https://doi.org/10.1109/IRI66576.2025.00018
- Saki, S., G. Sofia, et al. 2025, A multi-year analysis of the impact of heatwaves and compound weather events on power outages. Scientific Reports 15. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-15065-x