Where NWS Publishes Its Hazard Map Colors and Priority Numbers

The National Weather Service publishes the color name, RGB value, hex code, and a numeric “Priority” for every hazard type shown on its weather map on one page: https://www.weather.gov/help-map. That same page states its own current edition with a “Last update” line and links two dated Service Change Notices — one dated October 1, 2024 and one dated March 10, 2025 — as the two most recent changes to the list.

This original record-reading guide is a general reading aid, not cited evidence. It does not depict a source record; the article text and source links provide the facts.

Key points

• The hazard color/priority table lives at weather.gov/help-map, the map’s own reference page.
• The page dates its own edition: “Last update: March 10th, 2025.” (weather.gov/help-map)
• It links its own change history: “On March 10th, 2025 this list was per this notice. October 1st, 2024 this list was changed per this notice.” (weather.gov/help-map)
• The page also states the map’s refresh cadence: “The map updates approximately every 5 minutes” (weather.gov/help-map)
• Each table row pairs a hazard name with a Priority number, a color name, an RGB triplet, and a hex code, exactly as printed on the page.

The table on weather.gov/help-map

The help-map page prints a table with columns for hazard name, Priority number, color name, RGB value, and hex code. As published, the rows include:

• “Tsunami Warning | 1 | Tomato | 253 99 71 | FD6347” (weather.gov/help-map)
• “Tornado Warning | 2 | Red | 255 0 0 | FF0000” (weather.gov/help-map)
• “Extreme Wind Warning | 3 | Darkorange | 255 140 0 | FF8C00” (weather.gov/help-map)
• “Severe Thunderstorm Warning | 4 | Orange | 255 165 0 | FFA500” (weather.gov/help-map)
• “Flash Flood Warning | 5 | Darkred | 139 0 0 | 8B0000” (weather.gov/help-map)
• “Flash Flood Statement | 6 | Darkred | 139 0 0 | 8B0000” (weather.gov/help-map)

These are the exact hazard-name, Priority-number, color-name, RGB, and hex values as printed on the page.

Page edition marker

The help-map page dates itself directly: “Last update: March 10th, 2025.” (weather.gov/help-map) It also links the two notices that most recently changed the hazard list, stating: “On March 10th, 2025 this list was per this notice. October 1st, 2024 this list was changed per this notice.” (weather.gov/help-map) The two linked, dated Service Change Notices are published separately at scn24-75_wwa_map_priority_changes_aaa.pdf and scn24-88_heat_haz_simp.pdf.

Map refresh cadence

Separate from the table’s own last-update date, the page states how often the underlying map display refreshes: “The map updates approximately every 5 minutes” (weather.gov/help-map). This describes the map’s refresh rate, not the date the hazard list itself was last revised.

What this article does not cover

This article reports only the published table values and the page’s own edition and change-log statements. The help-map page does not explain what the numeric “Priority” column is used for, and no such explanation appears there — this article does not assert what Priority represents, and the numbers should not be read as a ranking of danger or severity, nor should the listed colors. The page also does not define what triggers any of these hazard types (for example, what conditions lead to a Tornado Warning); those criteria live on other NWS records that this page only links to, and this article does not restate them. Finally, the page documents only its own published list and its own change log — it does not say whether any change reached a particular reader’s phone, broadcaster, or app on a given date, and this article makes no claim about any reader’s location, risk, or exposure to any hazard.

Source links

https://www.weather.gov/help-map https://www.weather.gov/media/notification/pdf_2023_24/scn24-75_wwa_map_priority_changes_aaa.pdf https://www.weather.gov/media/notification/pdf_2023_24/scn24-88_heat_haz_simp.pdf