Flood Watch vs. Warning: What Each Alert Means
Understand flood watches, flood warnings and flash flood warnings, then find the issuing agency and instructions for your location.
A watch is your preparation window
A flood watch means conditions could produce flooding. It does not establish that flooding has started. Use this time to check the forecast for your location, identify routes that avoid low-water crossings, and make sure you can receive official alerts. A watch covers a period of concern; read both its start time and expiration.
A warning calls for action
A flood warning means flooding is occurring or expected imminently. A flash flood warning concerns rapid flooding that can develop within minutes or hours. Read the issuing office’s instructions immediately. If you are in a flood-prone area under a flash flood warning, move to higher ground. Never enter a flooded road or cross a barricade.
Match the alert to your location
A headline naming a county does not necessarily mean every address faces the same conditions. Open the original alert and check its affected area, timing and instructions. Rain falling upstream can create a flood where it is not raining locally. An older warning screenshot may no longer describe the situation.
Reading a StormScapes report
Start with the source update time, then open the National Weather Service link in the report. Our map helps you find coverage; it does not replace the official warning area or local evacuation directions. An empty feed means no matching reports were retrieved, not that flood risk is absent.
Official sources
Keep reading
Follow official-source updates via RSS · Browse all explainers
For an active emergency, follow the issuing agency and local authorities. Read our editorial policy.