Extreme wind warning

Not to be confused with Tornado warning or High wind warning.
Category 3 Hurricane Matthew's close passage of Brevard County, Florida on the morning of October 7, 2016 prompted the issuance of the first Extreme Wind Warning.

An extreme wind warning (SAME code EWW) is an alert issued by the National Weather Service for areas on land that will experience sustained surface winds 100 knots (115 mph, 185 km/h, 51 m/s) or greater within one hour. As of 2024, it has only been used for the eyewalls of major[a] tropical cyclones when they pass near-shore, and during and shortly after landfall, but it is also intended as a general "short-fused"[1] warning for any immediate occurrence of such winds. Extreme wind warnings are issued for as precise of an area as possible, in like manner as a tornado warning, to provide guidance to the general public at the county and sub-county level when such winds pose a significant threat of casualties. They cannot be issued earlier than two hours before the onset of extreme winds.[2] The extreme wind warning should not be confused with a high wind warning, which is similar, but is used over a typically broader area for longer-term wind events of at least gale-force.


Cite error: There are <ref group=lower-alpha> tags or {{efn}} templates on this page, but the references will not show without a {{reflist|group=lower-alpha}} template or {{notelist}} template (see the help page).

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference Short-fuse was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ "Extreme Wind Warning (EWW)" (PDF). National Weather Service. Retrieved October 17, 2018.