Live · updated 1 min ago

Washington weather alerts

1 active alert for Washington, District of Columbia right now: a Special Weather Statement.

10 in the last 30 days 17 in 12 months (since Aug 30) most common: Coastal Flood Advisory Get alerts on your phone →

Active alerts for District of Columbia

NWS issues alerts by county; Washington is in District of Columbia. Refreshed every few minutes; times in EDT.

Moderate Expected

Special Weather Statement

Issued Mon, Oct 5, 6:39 AM EDT by NWS Baltimore MD/Washington DC Until Mon, Oct 5, 9:00 AM EDT (in 2 hr)

Area: Patapsco River including Baltimore Harbor; District of Columbia; Washington; Frederick; Carroll; Northern Baltimore; Cecil; Southern Baltimore; Prince Georges; Anne Arundel; Charles; St. Marys; Calvert; Extreme Wester...

Localized dense fog with visibilities dropping below one-quarter of a mile has formed. The fog is patchy but locally very dense, so sudden drops in visibilities when traveling our expected. Motorists should use extreme caution when driving this morning. Reduce speed, leave extra travel time and following distance, and use low beam headlights.

What it means: A heads-up about conditions that do not meet warning or advisory criteria but still deserve attention, such as a strong storm, patchy fog or a brief burst of snow.

Full alert with map and forecast →

Get Washington alerts on your phone before you think to look them up

Forecast Bar watches the official alert feeds around the clock, NWS in the United States and Environment Canada in Canada, and pushes every warning, watch and advisory for your saved locations the moment it is issued. This page is the same data, a few minutes later.

Push notifications for severe weather, with Critical Alerts that break through Focus modes
Storm Tracker and Live Activities that follow a storm cell on your Lock Screen
Radar with warnings drawn on the map, on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac and Apple TV
Rain alerts, air quality, tides, aurora and custom thresholds you set yourself

Download on theApp Store On Mac, included withSetapp

Forecast Bar severe weather alert notifications on an iPhone Lock Screen

Where

District of Columbia on the map

Alert polygons are NWS's own. Forecast Bar's radar shows the same warnings over live precipitation, with future radar and lightning. See the radar.

Last 30 days

Recent alerts for District of Columbia

Alert	Issued	Ended	Issued by
Special Weather Statement	4:06 AM	7:00 AM	Baltimore MD/Washington DC
Special Weather Statement	2:17 AM	7:00 AM	Baltimore MD/Washington DC
Coastal Flood Advisory	Sep 25, 2:59 AM	Sep 25, 9:00 AM	Baltimore MD/Washington DC
Coastal Flood Advisory	Sep 24, 7:23 PM	Sep 25, 9:00 AM	Baltimore MD/Washington DC
Coastal Flood Advisory	Sep 24, 2:34 PM	Sep 25, 9:00 AM	Baltimore MD/Washington DC
Coastal Flood Advisory	Sep 24, 10:47 AM	Sep 25, 9:00 AM	Baltimore MD/Washington DC
Coastal Flood Advisory	Sep 24, 3:10 AM	Sep 25, 9:00 AM	Baltimore MD/Washington DC
Coastal Flood Advisory	Sep 23, 10:41 PM	Sep 25, 9:00 AM	Baltimore MD/Washington DC
Coastal Flood Advisory	Sep 23, 3:08 PM	Sep 25, 9:00 AM	Baltimore MD/Washington DC

Pattern

What District of Columbia gets alerted for

Every alert that named District of Columbia in the last 12 months, by type. Records begin August 30, 2026, so this fills in over the year.

Coastal Flood Advisory

Severe Thunderstorm Watch

Special Weather Statement

Flash Flood Warning

Severe Thunderstorm Warning

Plain English

What these alerts mean

A warning means the hazard is happening or about to; a watch means conditions favour it; an advisory is a lesser hazard still worth planning around.

Special Weather Statement

A heads-up about conditions that do not meet warning or advisory criteria but still deserve attention, such as a strong storm, patchy fog or a brief burst of snow.

Coastal Flood Advisory

Minor coastal flooding is expected, usually around high tide. Expect water on low-lying roads near the shore.

Severe Thunderstorm Watch

Conditions are favourable for severe thunderstorms with large hail or damaging wind. Keep an eye on the sky and on warnings.

Flash Flood Warning

Flash flooding is occurring or imminent. Move to higher ground; never drive into water covering a road.

Severe Thunderstorm Warning

A storm with hail of 1 inch or larger, winds of 58 mph or more, or both, is occurring or imminent. Move indoors and away from windows.

Nearby

Alerts near Washington

Cities

Alexandria, VA1 Rockville, MD1 Bowie, MD1 Gaithersburg, MD1 Baltimore, MD1 Frederick, MD1

Questions

About Washington alerts

How do I get Washington weather alerts on my iPhone?

Install Forecast Bar, add Washington as a location, and turn on severe weather alerts. Every NWS warning, watch and advisory for District of Columbia then arrives as a push notification at the moment of issue, with Critical Alerts available for the most dangerous warnings. Forecast Bar also runs on iPad, Apple Watch, Mac and Apple TV.

Where do these alerts come from?

From the National Weather Service alert feed (api.weather.gov). NWS issues alerts by county and by forecast zone; this page lists every product that names District of Columbia, the county Washington sits in. Forecast Bar checks the feed continuously and this page refreshes within a few minutes of a change.

What is the difference between a watch, a warning and an advisory?

A warning means the hazard is occurring, imminent or very likely: act now. A watch means conditions are favourable for it to develop: prepare and stay informed. An advisory covers a hazard that is less serious than a warning but can still cause real inconvenience or danger if you are not ready for it.

Can I get this data as JSON?

Yes. /weather-alerts/dc/washington.json returns the active alerts, the last 30 days and the 12-month counts for Washington, refreshed every minute. Please cache responses and credit National Weather Service as the source.

Never find out about a District of Columbia alert from this page again

Add Washington in Forecast Bar and every NWS warning, watch and advisory arrives as a push notification the moment it is issued, on iPhone, iPad, Apple Watch, Mac and Apple TV.

Download on theApp Store For Mac, included withSetapp

Free to download; live weather requires a subscription. On iPhone and iPad, every subscription includes a 7-day free trial for new subscribers; Mac plans do not. Mac and iOS plans are separate; Apple TV is included with Forecast Bar Gold on iOS.