As Cyclone Fani made a landfall at Odisha coast the Indian Government had issued an ‘Orange’ alert along the coastline districts of three states of Odisha, West Bengal and Andhra Pradesh.
But ever wondered what did it actually mean? And, when are these different color alerts issued? Let's find out!
There are different colors that are used to issue weather warnings. Weather alerts are applied in cases of adverse weather conditions including extreme temperatures, heavy snow and ice and flooding.
There are four colors used to indicate the alert category depending on weather’s intensity. Let’s give you a brief-
Green (All is well): No advisory is issued.
Yellow (Be aware): Yellow alert makes people aware that their location is at risk though, it does not pose an immediate threat to the general population. Yellow means that you should plan ahead thinking about possible travel delays, or the disruption of your day-to-day activities.
Orange (Be prepared): The orange alert is issued as a warning of extremely bad weather with the potential of disruption in commute with road and rail closures, and interruption of power supply. The sounding of the orange alert is a sign for people to prepare for evacuation, keep food packets ready and protect themselves and their family from bad weather.
Red (Take action): Extremely bad weather is expected. Red alert is the highest warning that is issued and implies that immediate action needs to be taken. This could mean shifting families to a safe zone, advising them to remain indoors among others. Widespread damage, travel and power disruption and risk to life is likely.
So, this was your brief introduction to different weather alerts. Next time you see an alert coming, you know what to do!
Image Credits – Clare FM
Any information taken from here should be credited to Skymet Weather