Extreme cold watch

An extreme cold watch is a weather watch issued by the United States' National Weather Service (NWS) to inform the public that "dangerously cold air, with or without wind, is possible." The extreme cold watch is a 'step' below the "extreme cold warning."

As of 1 October 2024, the NWS replaced the "wind chill watch" with the "extreme cold watch." The NWS officially implemented changes to its wind chill and hard freeze warnings, watches, and advisories (WWAs) as part of its "Hazard Simplification initiative." The goal of these WWA name changes, per the NWS, was "simplifying a suite of cold weather forecast products to improve messaging of winter hazards and provide better decision support." The changes include:

Extreme Cold Consolidation and Renaming

• Wind Chill Watch was renamed to Extreme Cold Watch
• Wind Chill Warning was renamed to Extreme Cold Warning
• Wind Chill Advisory was renamed to Cold Weather Advisory

Freeze Consolidation

• Hard Freeze Watch was renamed to Freeze Watch
• Hard Freeze Warning was consolidated to Freeze Warning

<br> ^{Local NWS offices will still determine the standards governing the issuance of such WWAs.}

Example

<pre>

URGENT - WEATHER MESSAGE National Weather Service Juneau AK 541 AM AKST Thu Jan 30 2025

AKZ318-310100- /O.CON.PAJK.EC.A.0001.250201T0300Z-250202T0300Z/ Municipality of Skagway- Including the cities of Skagway and White Pass 541 AM AKST Thu Jan 30 2025

...EXTREME COLD WATCH REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM FRIDAY EVENING THROUGH SATURDAY AFTERNOON...

• WHAT...Extremely cold temperatures as low as 40 below possible.

Wind gusts up to 50 mph are possible.

• WHERE...Skagway and Klondike Highway.

• WHEN...From Friday evening through Saturday afternoon.

• IMPACTS...Frostbite and hypothermia are likely if exposed to

these temperatures.

• ADDITIONAL DETAILS...Highest wind gusts are expected near the

city of Skagway with lowest wind chills near White Pass.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

Wear protective clothing such as a hat, facemask and heavy gloves or mittens if you have plans to be outdoors. To prevent freezing and possible bursting of outdoor water pipes they should be wrapped, drained, or allowed to drip slowly. Those that have in- ground sprinkler systems should drain them and cover above-ground pipes to protect them from freezing.

&&

$$

</pre>

References