A coastal warning display tower, also known as a storm warning tower, is a type of signal station in the form of skeletal towers designed to provide warnings of hazardous wind conditions in coastal areas. The towers were developed in 1898 on the orders of President

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until his assassination in 1901. As a politician he led a realignment that made his Republican Party largely dominant in t ...

. Through a system of flags, the towers can indicate not only wind-related warnings, but also major aspects of the local daily

weather forecast Weather forecasting is the application of science and technology to predict the conditions of the atmosphere for a given location and time. People have attempted to predict the weather informally for millennia and formally since the 19th cent ...

A single red pennant was shown from the top of the tower as a small craft advisory; for a gale warning, two such pennants were used. Two square flags, red with a black square at center, indicate an approaching hurricane or winds >73 MPH. One such flag warns of storm-force winds or an approaching tropical storm. Three lights, two red and one white, carry the signal at night. Red over white indicates a small craft advisory, white over red indicates a gale warning, red over red indicates a storm warning. All three lights together, red-white-red, warns of a

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depe ...

or other hurricane-force wind event. Other flags can be used to indicate the direction of winds during a tropical storm or storm warning, to indicate the temperature change relative to the previous day, to warn of an approaching cold front, and to show the forecast coverage of precipitation (widespread fair weather, scattered precipitation, or widespread precipitation). The system of towers is widely considered unnecessary today due to the prevalence of NOAA Weather Radio All Hazards, and few original towers survive. However, the system of using flags to indicate warnings related to strong winds in coastal areas remains in use by the U.S. Coast Guard, using ordinary flagpoles in lieu of the larger, more expensive, and more complex towers. At least one complete CWD tower, with all of its original equipment, remains in full operation in the city of Manteo, North Carolina.

Remaining towers

* Manteo, North Carolina, operated by the North Carolina Maritime Museum * Portsmouth, New Hampshire *

Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Rhode Island. One of the oldest cities in New England, it was founded in 1636 by Roger Williams, a Reformed Baptist theologian and religious exile from the Massachusetts Bay ...

New Haven, Connecticut New Haven is a city in the U.S. state of Connecticut. It is located on New Haven Harbor on the northern shore of Long Island Sound in New Haven County, Connecticut and is part of the New York City metropolitan area. With a population of 134,023 ...

Southport, North Carolina Southport is a city in Brunswick County, North Carolina, United States, near the mouth of the Cape Fear River. Its population was 3,828 as of the 2018 census. The mayor is Joseph P. Hatem. Southport is the location of the North Carolina Fourth ...

* Hammond, Oregon * Oswego, New York, at Fort Ontario State Historic Site *

Washington, North Carolina Washington is a city in Beaufort County, North Carolina, United States, located on the northern bank of the Pamlico River. The population was 9,744 at the 2010 census. It is the county seat of Beaufort County. It is commonly known as "Original W ...

, operated by th
City of Washington

External links

*
National Weather Service entry
Weather warnings and advisories Navigational aids {{Climate-stub

Remaining towers

See also

External links