A hurricane force wind warning is a warning issued by the

National Weather Service The National Weather Service (NWS) is an Government agency, agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that is tasked with providing weather forecasts, warnings of hazardous weather, and other weathe ...

of the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

when sustained winds or frequent gusts of 64 knots (118 km/h, 74 mph) or greater are either being observed or are predicted to occur. The winds must not be directly associated with a tropical cyclone, or a

hurricane warning Tropical cyclone warnings and watches are alerts issued by national weather forecasting bodies to coastal areas threatened by the imminent approach of a tropical cyclone of tropical storm or hurricane intensity. They are notices to the local popul ...

will be issued. If winds are lighter than 64 knots, a

storm warning At sea, a storm warning is a warning issued by the National Weather Service of the United States when winds between 48 knots (89 km/h, 55 mph) and 63 knots (117 km/h, 73 mph) are occurring or predicted to occur soon. The wi ...

gale warning A gale warning is an alert issued by national weather forecasting agencies around the world in an event that maritime locations currently or imminently experiencing winds of gale force on the Beaufort scale. Gale warnings (and gale watches) a ...

will be issued. The hurricane force wind warning is only used to warn of the possibility of wind which reaches hurricane-level severity, but lacks direct connection with a hurricane system. The hurricane force wind can either signal sustained winds of 64 knots, or gusts of 64 knots lasting for two or more hours. In US maritime warning flag systems, two red square flags with a black square taking up the middle ninth of each flag is used to indicate a hurricane force wind warning (the use of one such flag denotes a

or a

tropical storm warning Tropical cyclone warnings and watches are alerts issued by national weather forecasting bodies to coastal areas threatened by the imminent approach of a tropical cyclone of tropical storm or hurricane intensity. They are notices to the local popul ...

). The flags used to denote hurricane force winds are also used to warn of incoming hurricanes. Hurricane Force Wind Warning For Alaska

Example

URGENT - MARINE WEATHER MESSAGE
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE PORTLAND OR
249 AM PDT MON MAR 12 2012

PZZ255-275-121800-
/O.CON.KPQR.HF.W.0002.000000T0000Z-120313T0100Z/
COASTAL WATERS FROM CASCADE HEAD TO FLORENCE OR OUT 10 NM-
WATERS FROM CASCADE HEAD TO FLORENCE OR FROM 10 TO 60 NM-
249 AM PDT MON MAR 12 2012

...HURRICANE FORCE WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM PDT
THIS EVENING...

A HURRICANE FORCE WIND WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT UNTIL 6 PM PDT
THIS EVENING.

* WINDS...SOUTH WIND 40 TO 50 KT WITH GUSTS TO 70 KT EXPECTED TO
  PEAK MONDAY MORNING OVER THE OUTER WATERS...WITH LOCAL GUSTS TO
  75 KT POSSIBLE OVER THE INNER WATERS MONDAY LATE MORNING AND
  EARLY AFTERNOON.

* SEAS....COMBINED SEAS WILL REACH 28 TO 30 FEET EARLY MONDAY
  MORNING...POSSIBLY HIGHER...THEN EASE TO AROUND 20 FEET BY
  EARLY MONDAY EVENING. SEAS WILL BE QUITE CHOPPY WITH A HIGH
  SOUTH TO SOUTHWEST WIND WAVE COMPONENT...AND A WEST LONGER
  PERIOD SWELL COMPONENT.

PRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...

A HURRICANE FORCE WIND WARNING MEANS WINDS OF 64 KNOTS OR GREATER
ARE IMMINENT OR OCCURRING. ALL VESSELS SHOULD REMAIN IN PORT...OR
TAKE SHELTER AS SOON AS POSSIBLE...UNTIL WINDS AND WAVES SUBSIDE.

References

External links

National Weather Service
{{SevWea nav Weather warnings and advisories fr:Avis de tempête zh:暴雨警告

Example

See also

References

External links