DETROIT (FOX 2) - The difference between a watch and a warning has to do with risk and the potential for serious weather.
Want to get the latest news and weather updates from your phone instantly? Download the FOX 2 app today on Android and iPhone today. You can also sign up for our FOX 2 newsletters to have breaking news delivered to your email. Sign up here to have them sent to you.
Winter Storm Watch
The NWS issues Winter Storm Watches when significant and hazardous weather could potentially arrive within 48 hours. Whether the severe conditions actually do occur is besides the point, only that it's possible.
Under the weather service's definitions, hazardous winter weather includes a combination of:
- At least 5 inches of snow/sleet falling within a 12-hour period, or 7 inches of snow/sleet falling within a 24-hour period.
- Enough ice accumulation to cause damage to trees or power lines
- A life-threatening or damaging combination of snow and ice, along with wind
Winter Storm Warning
NWS alerts upgrading severe weather in the winter from a watch to a warning includes all the factors listed above, but with much more certainty they will occur.
If serious snowfall or ice coverage is imminent or falling in real time, the weather service will likely upgrade its alert.
The threshold is higher in the state's Upper Peninsula, where its five westernmost counties need to see 6 inches of snow predicted in a 12-hour period or 8 inches of snow within a 24-hour period to trigger an alert.