For the purposes of this course, we have classified the available NWEMs into categories as a convenient approach for discussion. Before describing the categories, it will be helpful to review their basis.
NWR All Hazards Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME)
NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) uses SAME event codes that correspond to the Emergency Alert System event codes. With some pre-existing exceptions, the third character in the three letter codes correspond to:
W for Warning
A for Watch
E for Emergency
S for Statement
NWS Instruction 10-1712, NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) All Hazards Specific Area Message Encoding (SAME), (see Net Links below) provides the following definitions:
Warning
Warning messages are issued for those events that alone pose a significant threat to public safety and/or property, probability of occurrence and location is high, and the onset time is relatively short.
- Watch
Watch messages are issued for those events that meet the classification of a warning, but either the onset time, probability of occurrence, or location is uncertain.
- Emergency
Emergency messages are issued for those events that by themselves would not kill or injure or do property damage but indirectly may cause other things to happen that result in a hazard. For example, a major power or telephone loss in a large city alone is not a direct hazard but disruption to other critical services could create a variety of conditions that could directly threaten public safety.
- Statement
Statements messages contain follow up information for warning, watch, or emergency messages.
NWEM Categories
Warnings and Other Alerts form our two major categories. The Warnings category is further subdivided into Hazard Specific and Instruction Specific. The Other Alerts is subdivided into Emergency/Watch and Statement. In table form:
In the lists below, only the NWEM types indicated with an asterisk (*) are specifically covered in this course, since we have focused on the more generally used NWEM types. The principles and considerations will be similar for those types not specifically described in this training.
Warnings and Other Alerts form our two major categories. The Warnings category is further subdivided into Hazard Specific and Instruction Specific. The Other Alerts is subdivided into Emergency/Watch and Statement. In table form:
| WARNINGS | OTHER ALERTS | ||
| HAZARD SPECIFIC | INSTRUCTION SPECIFIC | EMERGENCY/WATCH | STATEMENT |
| Avalanche Warning, AVW | Evacuation Immediate, EVI | Avalanche Watch, AVA | Administrative Message/Follow Up Statement, ADR |
| Civil Danger, CDW | Shelter in Place, SPW | Child Abduction, CAE | |
| Earthquake, EQW | --- | Civil Emergency, CEM | --- |
| Fire, FRW | --- | Local Area Emergency, LAE | --- |
| Hazardous Materials, HMW | --- | Tel. Outage Emergency, TOE | --- |
| Law Enforcement, LEW | --- | --- | --- |
| Nuclear Plant, NUW | --- | --- | --- |
| Radiological Hazard, RHW | --- | --- | --- |
| Volcano, VOW | --- | --- | --- |
In the lists below, only the NWEM types indicated with an asterisk (*) are specifically covered in this course, since we have focused on the more generally used NWEM types. The principles and considerations will be similar for those types not specifically described in this training.
- Warnings, Hazard Specific include:
Avalanche Warning (AVW)
- Civil Danger Warning (CDW)*
- Earthquake Warning (EQW)
- Fire Warning (FRW)*
- Hazardous Materials Warning (HMW)*
- Law Enforcement Warning (LEW)*
- Nuclear Power Plant Warning (NUW)
- Radiological Hazard Warning (RHW)
- Volcano Warning (VOW)
- Warnings, Instruction Specific include:
- Evacuation Immediate (EVI)*
- Shelter in Place Warning (SPW)*
- Other Alerts, Emergency/Watch:
- Avalanche Watch (AVA)
- Child Abduction Emergency (CAE)*
- Civil Emergency Message (CEM)*
- Local Area Emergency (LAE)*
- 911 Telephone Outage Emergency (TOE)*
- Other Alerts, Statement:
- Administrative Message/Follow Up Statement (ADR)*
Please see the following link if you would like further details on Specific Area Message Encoding. Then check your knowledge via the self-assessment quiz on the next page.
