Live from the National Weather Service

Washington Storm Alerts

Active National Weather Service hail, wind, thunderstorm, tornado, tropical and winter storm alerts covering Washington, with the counties each one names and the office that issued it — plus what the state’s severe-weather season looks like and how each of these events actually damages a roof.

Below that, in its own lane, the smoke and fire family: fire weather, dense smoke, air quality, blowing dust and volcanic ashfall.

1 active alert · read from the National Weather Service at Aug 26, 1:54 AM EDT · refreshed every 10 minutes

This page is informational and is not a safety resource. It exists to show roofing professionals where storm damage has been reported, and it is refreshed on a ten-minute cycle, so it can lag the Weather Service.

During an active weather event, the authority is weather.gov and your local emergency management agency. Follow them, not this page.

Active storm alerts in Washington

Reproduced exactly as the National Weather Service issued them. Alerts frequently cross state lines, so a county list may name counties in a neighbouring state. Smoke and fire alerts are reported separately, in their own lane below.

Special Weather Statement

ModerateUrgencyExpectedCertaintyObserved

Issued by NWS Pendleton OR

In effect from Aug 25, 9:27 AM local · until Aug 26, 8:00 PM local

Counties named in this alert

Eastern Columbia River Gorge of Oregon
Lower Columbia Basin of Oregon
Wallowa County
Eastern Columbia River Gorge of Washington
Yakima Valley
Lower Columbia Basin of Washington
Simcoe Highlands

Read the full National Weather Service text

NWS headline

Special Weather Statement issued August 25 at 9:27AM PDT by NWS Pendleton OR

NWS description

Winds and relative humidity will reach localized critical fire weather conditions tomorrow, Wednesday between 1100 to 2000 (8PM). While not widespread, this will affect a few of the fires already on the landscape as well as any new fire that may occur in these areas.

View this alert on weather.gov

Radar over Washington

Straight from radar.weather.gov and regenerated by NOAA roughly every two minutes.

National Weather Service radar for the Pacific Northwest, covering Washington, Oregon and Idaho. — Where precipitation is falling over Washington right now. The National Weather Service publishes these mosaics by region rather than by state, so the frame runs past the state line and neighbouring states are visible in it. Radar shows precipitation, not damage — a return over a county is not evidence that any particular building was hit.
Radar imagery: the National Weather Service. Served directly from radar.weather.gov, a free US Government service, and regenerated by NOAA roughly every two minutes — your browser picks up new frames on its own. This site does not process, re-colour or re-time the imagery; it is the Weather Service’s own mosaic, unmodified. weather.gov
This radar is informational and is not a safety resource. During an active weather event, the authority is weather.gov and your local emergency management agency. Follow them, not this page.

Smoke & fire lane

Smoke & fire alerts in Washington

The National Weather Service issues a separate family of alerts for fire weather, dense smoke, air quality, blowing dust and volcanic ashfall. This lane reports that family for Washington, kept apart from the storm alerts above because the two answer different questions.

Wildfire smoke is what drives smoke-damage losses, and it reaches a building through the same vents that keep an attic dry — which is why it belongs on a roofing page at all. Alerts describing particulate already in the air are listed ahead of fire-weather forecasts; that ordering is this lane’s own and is not a Weather Service ranking.

4 active smoke or fire alerts · read from the National Weather Service at Aug 26, 1:54 AM EDT · refreshed every 10 minutes

Air Quality Alert

Air qualityUnknownUrgencyUnknownCertaintyUnknown

Issued by NWS Spokane WA

In effect from Aug 25, 10:51 AM local · until Aug 26, 12:00 PM local

Counties named in this alert

Chelan, WA
Douglas, WA
Okanogan, WA

Read the full National Weather Service text

NWS headline

Air Quality Alert issued August 25 at 10:51AM PDT by NWS Spokane WA

NWS description

An Air Quality Alert has been issued by the following agencies: Washington Department of Ecology An Air Quality Alert has been issued for Chelan, Douglas, and Okanogan Counties until further notice due to current and expected smoke from regional fires. Particulate matter (PM2.5) may reach Unhealthy levels for areas downwind from active wildfires. Be sure to check air monitors in your area before outdoor activities. When air quality is Unhealthy, everyone should reduce exposure. Limit time outside, avoid strenuous outdoor activity, and follow tips for cleaner indoor air.

View this alert on weather.gov

Air Quality Alert

Air qualityUnknownUrgencyUnknownCertaintyUnknown

Issued by NWS Pendleton OR

In effect from Aug 25, 12:14 PM local · until Aug 26, 12:15 PM local

Counties named in this alert

Kittitas, WA
Walla Walla, WA

Read the full National Weather Service text

NWS headline

Air Quality Alert issued August 25 at 12:14PM PDT by NWS Pendleton OR

NWS description

The Washington State Department of Ecology, Benton Clean Air Agency, and the Yakima Regional Clean Air Agency have issued an Air Quality Alert until noon PDT Wednesday. For the Air Quality Alert, stagnant air conditions will trap smoke and other air pollutants near the ground where people breathe. Check with your local health or air agency for current restrictions on woodstove use. There are often exceptions for those who use wood exclusively to heat their homes and those with limited income. People can take the following precautions to protect their health: * Follow local burn restrictions to prevent deteriorating air quality. * Avoid strenuous outdoor activity in smoky conditions. * People with heart or lung problems and young children are especially vulnerable. These people should stay indoors while smoke levels are high. * Use certified High Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filters in indoor heating ventilation, cooling, and air purification systems. * Avoid using wood-burning stoves and other sources of indoor smoke if possible. Information from the Washington Department of Ecology web site is available at http://www.ecy.wa.gov/air.html or call 360-407-6000. Information from the Yakima Regional Clean Air Agency web site is available at http://www.yakimacleanair.org or call 509-834-2050. Information from the Benton County Clean Air Agency web site is available at http://www.bentoncleanair.org or call 509-783-1304.

View this alert on weather.gov

Air Quality Alert

Air qualityUnknownUrgencyUnknownCertaintyUnknown

Issued by NWS Pendleton OR

In effect from Aug 25, 12:39 PM local · until Aug 26, 12:00 PM local

Counties named in this alert

Kittitas, WA
Walla Walla, WA

Read the full National Weather Service text

NWS headline

Air Quality Alert issued August 25 at 12:39PM PDT by NWS Pendleton OR

NWS description

The Washington State Department of Ecology has issued an Air Quality Alert until noon PDT Wednesday. An Air Quality Alert has been issued for Kittitas and Walla Walla Counties through Wednesday August 26 at noon due to current and expected wildfire smoke from regional fires. Particulate matter (PM2.5) may reach Unhealthy to Sensitive Groups to Unhealthy levels for areas directly downwind from active fires, especially overnight and during the early morning hours. Be sure to check air monitors in your area before outdoor activities. When air quality is Unhealthy, everyone should reduce exposure. Limit time outside, avoid, strenuous outdoor activity, and follow tips for cleaner indoor air. Information from the Washington Department of Ecology web site is available at http://www.ecy.wa.gov/air.html or call 360-407-6000.

View this alert on weather.gov

Fire Weather Watch

Fire weatherSevereUrgencyFutureCertaintyPossible

Issued by NWS Spokane WA

In effect from Aug 27, 12:00 PM local · until Aug 27, 8:00 PM local

Counties named in this alert

Okanogan Valley
Waterville Plateau

Read the full National Weather Service text

NWS headline

Fire Weather Watch issued August 25 at 10:39AM PDT until August 27 at 8:00PM PDT by NWS Spokane WA

NWS description

The National Weather Service in Spokane has issued a Fire Weather Watch for wind and low relative humidity, which is in effect from Thursday afternoon through Thursday evening. * Affected Area: Okanogan Valley (Zone 703) and Waterville Plateau (Zone 706). * Winds: Southwest 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 35 mph. * Relative Humidities: 19 to 25 percent. * Impacts: Rapid fire spread is possible with any new or ongoing fires.

NWS instructions

A Fire Weather Watch means that critical fire weather conditions are forecast to occur. Listen for later forecasts and possible Red Flag Warnings.

View this alert on weather.gov

The 12 alert types this lane reports

Every one is a National Weather Service product and is listed under the name the Weather Service gives it. Grouping them into families is ours; the names are not.

Fire weather: Fire WarningExtreme Fire DangerRed Flag WarningFire Weather Watch
Dense smoke: Dense Smoke Advisory
Air quality: Air Quality Alert
Blowing dust: Blowing Dust WarningDust Storm WarningBlowing Dust AdvisoryDust Advisory
Volcanic ashfall: Ashfall WarningAshfall Advisory

The Weather Service defines each of these products and this site does not attempt to. What any one of them means, and the criteria an office issues it under, are at weather.gov.

This lane is informational and is not a safety resource. It reports which National Weather Service smoke and fire alerts are active and where, on a ten-minute refresh cycle, so it can lag the Weather Service.

During an active weather event, the authority is weather.gov and your local emergency management agency. Follow them, not this page.

Smoke exposure and air quality are health matters, and this page does not address them. It does not tell you whether it is safe to be outdoors or to work, what an air quality index number means for you or for anyone in your household, or what respiratory protection to use. Those questions belong with a clinician and with the agency that issued the alert. The federal air-quality authority is airnow.gov.

What smoke does to a roof assembly

An active alert is a record of conditions, not a finding about any building. These are the standing references on the building-assembly side of a smoke or fire loss.

Smoke odor in roof decking and attic insulationWhy odour outlives the visible repairs — deposition into bare decking and framing, insulation acting as a reservoir, and the difference between cleaning, sealing and removing. The article that covers wildfire smoke reaching an attic through the vents, with the roof itself untouched.Fire damage to a roof assemblyDirect flame against radiant heat, shingle distortion and mat delamination, charred sheathing and loss of section, and why a roof that looks intact from the ground can still be condemned.Roof replacement after a fireHow the repair-or-replace decision is built on a fire loss: partial against full deck replacement, the boundary between charred and heat-affected wood, matching, and the code upgrades a repair can trigger.Ventilation holes and fire department roof damageFire crews cut the roof on purpose. What vertical ventilation is for, how tactical damage is separated from fire damage in a scope, and what an opened deck needs in the meantime.Smoke Mitigation Network — directory listingLaboratory smoke damage testing and documentation, listed under Restoration & Mitigation → Smoke Damage Testing & Assessment. Whether a building is contaminated is established by sampling rather than by looking at it. The listing discloses that it shares ownership with this directory.

Severe weather season in Washington

Peak season

November–March

Washington’s damaging weather is a winter pattern driven by Pacific storm systems moving onshore. The coast and the Puget Sound corridor take the strongest sustained wind, and duration is what tends to expose an aged flashing or a tired edge detail. The Cascades and eastern Washington add heavy snow loading. Hail and tornadoes are uncommon across the state.

Seasons describe a pattern, not a schedule. The National Weather Service issues these products year-round, and the live list above is the only authority on what is actually running in Washington right now.

What NOAA has recorded in Washington

The archived record, not the live feed. Severe weather logged by the National Centers for Environmental Information over the covered years, split into the events NOAA keys to a county and the events it keys to a forecast zone.

Between 2016 and 2026, NOAA recorded 242 county-level severe-weather events across Washington: 164 thunderstorm wind events, 55 hail reports, 22 tornadoes and 1 strong wind event. Of the 55 hail reports carrying a measured size, 46 were 1.00 in across or larger.

A further 2,412 events over the same period were recorded against National Weather Service forecast zones rather than counties — 1,599 heavy snow events, 491 high wind events, 133 winter storms, 98 strong wind events and 79 ice storms. A forecast zone is not a county: it can span several or subdivide one, so these are reported here at state level and appear in no county total on this site.

County-keyed events

242

2016–2026

Zone-keyed events

2,412

statewide, not county-attributable

Hail 1.00 in or larger

of 55 sized hail reports

Tornadoes

in the county record

Counties with the heaviest record

Ranked by the number of county-keyed events NOAA recorded, 2016–2026. 29 of Washington’s counties carry a record in this dataset.

Spokane County57largest hail 2.75 in (Softball+) · peak gust 61 kt (about 70 mph)
Okanogan County22largest hail 1.00 in (Quarter - Half Dollar) · peak gust 65 kt (about 75 mph)
Stevens County21largest hail 2.00 in (Baseball) · peak gust 58 kt (about 67 mph)
Whitman County16largest hail 1.50 in (Ping Pong Ball) · peak gust 67 kt (about 77 mph)
Pend Oreille County13largest hail 1.00 in (Quarter - Half Dollar) · peak gust 60 kt (about 69 mph)
Ferry County12largest hail 1.00 in (Quarter - Half Dollar) · peak gust 61 kt (about 70 mph)
Benton County10largest hail 1.00 in (Quarter - Half Dollar) · peak gust 63 kt (about 72 mph)
Klickitat County10largest hail 1.75 in (Golf Ball) · peak gust 58 kt (about 67 mph)

County figures and state figures. County figures count events NOAA recorded against a county (hail, thunderstorm wind and tornadoes). High wind, winter storms, ice storms, blizzards, heavy snow, hurricanes and tropical storms are recorded against National Weather Service forecast zones rather than counties, so they are reported at state level instead. Counts reflect events that were observed and reported. NOAA does occasionally record one of those against a county instead. Where it has, the event sits in the county-keyed total above rather than the zone-keyed one — in Washington that applies to strong wind events.

Source. Archived figures come from the NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information Storm Events Database, covering 2016 through May 31, 2026. Reports after that date come from NOAA Storm Prediction Center preliminary storm reports. Both are US Government works in the public domain. This is a record of past weather; the live alert list at the top of this page is the only authority on what is running in Washington now.

What these storms do to a roof

The damage mechanisms that matter in Washington, in the order they generate work here.

Straight-line wind

Wind damage on a shingle roof usually starts as a broken seal rather than a missing shingle. Uplift pressure is highest at the edges — rakes, eaves, ridges and hips — and along any line where the roof plane changes, so that is where tabs lift and the factory sealant strip lets go first. Once the seal is broken, a shingle that still looks fine from the ground is no longer bonded to the course below it and every later wind event works on the same spot. Wind also drives debris, and impact damage from a branch or from another roof’s material is a separate mechanism from uplift.

Snow load and winter storms

Winter loads a roof rather than striking it. Accumulated snow is a sustained weight on the structure, and drifting means the load is rarely spread evenly — it piles against ridges, dormers, valleys and the low side of any change in roof height. Melt-and-refreeze adds the second mechanism: heat escaping through the roof melts snow that then refreezes at the cold eave, and the resulting ice can back water up under the covering, which sheds water flowing downhill but not water standing still.

Why the storm date matters

Property insurance works from a date of loss — a specific storm on a specific day over a specific area, not a general observation that a roof looks worn. That is why the county list and the effective and expiry times on each alert above are the useful part of this page: they are the National Weather Service’s own record that a given event covered a given county at a given time.

It also matters because hail damage is frequently latent. A fractured shingle mat can take a long time to become a leak, so the gap between the storm and the discovery can be considerable — and by then, establishing which storm did it is a records question rather than an observation. An alert naming a county is not evidence that any particular building was damaged; it is evidence of what the weather was doing over that county, which is where an assessment starts rather than where it ends.

Next steps in Washington

Roofing contractors in WashingtonBrowse the Washington directory by city and county.Washington licensing rulesWhether roofers must be licensed here, which board issues it, and the bond and insurance rules.Storm damage roof repair guideHow hail and wind damage is identified, documented and repaired.National storm centerActive alerts across all 50 states and DC, busiest first.

Source: the National Weather Service. Every alert on this page comes from the NWS public alerts feed at api.weather.gov, a free US Government service, and is reproduced as the issuing office wrote it. The office that issued each alert is named on the alert itself.

This site does not edit, summarise or re-grade Weather Service text. Alerts are filtered into two separate lists — the event types that affect roofs, and the smoke, fire and airborne-particulate family — and each list is sorted. Nothing else is changed, and no alert is moved between the two lists to suit a heading.

weather.gov