Canadian weather alerts are changing. Here’s what to expect

Credit: Environment & Climate Change Canada

Colour-coded, tiered weather alerts are now in effect across the country as Environment & Climate Change Canada has updated the way it issues severe weather warnings and watches.

The change goes into effect Wednesday and will see watches and warnings categorized as yellow, orange or red.

The new categories will be impact-based and risk-tiered.

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According to ECCC, yellow is the base alert level; orange alerts indicate more severe impacts; and red alerts will be used for the most dangerous impacts.

The move to a colour-coded alerting system aligns with the World Meteorological Organization and is already in used in several other countries, including the U.K.

It gives meteorologists the opportunity to categorize severe weather based on confidence and the level of impact.

It’s anticipated that the vast majority of alerts will get a yellow rating. However, severe weather events that have widespread or lengthy impacts will get upgraded to orange or red.

Historical examples of weather events that would’ve been categorized as red include the 2021 atmospheric river in B.C. that did severe damage to highways; the 1998 ice storm in Ontario and Quebec; and damaging tornadoes like the 1987 Black Friday tornado in Edmonton.

Reminder: Regardless of the colour, severe weather alerts need to be taken seriously.

A severe weather watch means “prepare for severe weather” and a severe weather warning means “act now.”