Early Warning Network Alerts

Severe thunderstorm warnings, severe weather warnings, flood watches and warnings, tropical cyclone watches and warnings, tsunami warnings and fire weather warnings are sourced from the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM). Bushfire warnings are sourced from state-base bushfire responders. Other alerts, forecasts and threat maps are produced by EWN.

Threat Levels

Threat levels of Yellow, Amber, Red and Black are applied to email and app alerts to indicate the severity of a threat at a glance.

Threat Level Summary of Threat Example Alert Types at this Threat Level
BLACK Catastrophic threats where damage or destruction to property has or will occur along with serious threats to personal safety. - Category 4 or 5 Tropical Cyclones
- Tsunami threats where land inundation is likely
- Extreme flash flooding
- Bushfire Emergencies during catastrophic conditions
- Fire Weather Warnings of Catastrophic Danger
- Tsunami threats where major land inundation is likely
RED Extreme threats where damage or destruction to property is likely, along with risk to personal safety. - Category 2 or 3 Tropical Cyclones
- Severe Thunderstorm Warnings with destructive winds or tornadoes
- Severe Weather Warnings with destructive winds
- Bushfire Emergency Warning
- Fire Weather Warnings of Extreme Danger
- Major Flood Warnings
- Tsunami threats where land inundation is likely
AMBER Severe threats which may pose a threat to property or personal safety. - Category 1 Tropical Cyclones and Tropical Lows
- Severe Thunderstorm Warnings
- Severe Weather Warnings
- Bushfire Watch and Act
- Fire Weather Warnings of Severe Danger
- Flood Watches
- Moderate Flood Warnings
- Tsunami threats where land inundation is possible
YELLOW Very High threats which may present a risk. - Minor or Final Flood Warnings
- Bushfire Advices
- Fire Weather Warnings of Very High Danger
GREEN All clear or threat cancelled (issued to clients on request).

Alert Types

Severe Thunderstorm Warnings

Threats from severe thunderstorms include: Large hail, Heavy Rainfall (that may lead to flash flooding), Damaging winds, Destructive winds or Tornadoes.

Severe thunderstorms represent the most common threat to property and the community throughout the year and are the main type of alert sent by EWN. Alerts are issued via Email, App Push Notifications and SMS (and Landline in some areas).

The aim of our service is to deliver a timely alert when a severe thunderstorm is near or approaching your registered address. A constant watch is kept on BoM warnings, radar and our observation network to achieve this. However, thunderstorm weather is ever-changing and it is not possible to cover all scenarios. Radar images or warning products can be late, and thunderstorms can and do form and dissipate very quickly at times.

It is important to accept that it is almost impossible to alert everyone on time during thunderstorm weather. Additionally, many adjacent areas may get an alert but not experience a thunderstorm.

Often the BoM warnings are not issued until some severe weather has already occurred or been observed. This is quite often the case for heavy rain warnings. Keep in mind creeks and streams may continue to rise and roads become cut after the heavy rain has eased or even stopped.

Severe Weather Warnings (unrelated to thunderstorms)

Intense low pressure systems and troughs (elongated areas of low pressure) may lead to warnings for phenomena such as:

EWN will issue Email, App Push Notifications and SMS alerts (and Landline alerts in some areas) for these events. There is often a lengthy lead-in time before any severe weather occurs. This does provide plenty of time to prepare, though it also means some events may fail to actually become as severe as forecast due to the weather patterns being less intense or focusing into another region.

Flood Watches and Flood Warnings

Email, App Push Notifications and SMS alerts will be issued for Flood Watches.

Alerts will only be sent by EWN for Flood Warnings as the event unfolds if there is an arrangement with a client or local government area. The community is often very aware of areas prone to flooding and are advised to monitor the Bureau of Meteorology's flood pages and warnings page once they receive the flood watch or severe weather warning about heavy rainfall. Alternatively listen to local radio. Regularly updated river height and rainfall data is available that does not suit the alerting process.

Tropical Cyclone Watches and Tropical Cyclone Warnings

Email, App Push Notifications and SMS Alerts will be issued for tropical cyclone watches and warnings. EWN does not send every tropical cyclone advice update - only initial warnings and when the situation escalates. For example, when a category 1 cyclone intensifies to category 2. The local community will know the risks and are advised to monitor the Bureau of Meteorology's warnings webpage directly once they receive an alert.

Fire Weather Warnings

EWN will issue Fire Weather Warnings to the geographic regions they apply to when the fire danger is Severe, Extreme or Catastrophic. The alert will typically be sent the day before the threat, or updated in the morning if the areas have extended. Fire Weather Warnings are often associated with Total Fire Bans but only the Fire Weather Warning will be issued by EWN. These alerts are normally sent by Email, Push Notification and SMS, though for ongoing events SMS will not be issued every day.

Tsunami

Alerts will be issued via Email, App Push Notifications and SMS for tsunami threats. Landline alerts may also be issued for significant events.

Bushfires

Alerts will be sent via Email, App Push Notifications and SMS for bushfire Watch and Act and Emergency warnings. This information is sourced from bushfire responders in each state except the Northern Territory (where no feed is available). The timeliness of bushfire alerts is dependent on what is made public by those agencies. EWN only issues the first Watch & Act and/or the first Emergency Warning for an event - updated information should then be sourced from your state agency.

Alert Filtering

The alerts sent by EWN are NOT automated - our alert managers check all content, and filter out duplicate warnings.

Alerts may be sent at any time of the day or night. However we do try to limit alerts sent between the hours of 10pm and 6am unless it is a serious situation.

Severe Weather Warnings issued by the BoM during late evening or pre-dawn may be delayed until morning if there is a long lead-in time before the severe weather is expected.

SMS Alerts

SMS alerts remain the most reliable type of alert as they do not require an internet connection. These are sent provided the registration belongs to one of these groups:

If you are an existing EWN member and wish to upgrade to, or renew your EWN Premium, please login here then select EWN Premium from the menu.

More Help

Further information is available on our Support Pages.

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