This page provides a download interface to IEM processed metadata/geometries associated with National Weather Service VTEC-enabled watch, warning, and advisory events. You can download this information on-demand in a zip-file (containing a shapefile + CSV), KML, or Microsoft Excel format.
If you are looking for a real-time source of warning shapefiles, you can find that here.
Download Limit: If you do not limit the state or WFO output,
you are limited to downloading 1 year of data at a time. The reason being
to keep the requests from timing out as the response content is delivered on
the fly.
Related Services
Custom Download
Backend Documentation for scripting against this service.
Shapefile DBF Schema
A discussion of the schema can be found on the FAQ Page for this dataset.
Pre-generated Zip Files
These files are same as you could download from the form on the left, just you don't have to wait so long! A script runs at around 2 AM Central Time each day to dump the current year's data. The date stamps with each file denote when they were generated.
| Year | All | Limit Tor,Svr,Mar,FF | Limit Storm Based Tor,Svr,Mar,FF |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1986 | Zip (6.2 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (6.2 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 1987 | Zip (5.16 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (5.16 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 1988 | Zip (5.1 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (5.1 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 1989 | Zip (7.57 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (7.57 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 1990 | Zip (9.53 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (9.53 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 1991 | Zip (9.23 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (9.23 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 1992 | Zip (9.17 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (9.17 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 1993 | Zip (10.13 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (10.13 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 1994 | Zip (11.13 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (11.13 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 1995 | Zip (16.08 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (16.08 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 1996 | Zip (18.26 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (18.26 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 1997 | Zip (17.88 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (17.88 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 1998 | Zip (23.43 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (23.43 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 1999 | Zip (19.34 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (19.34 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 2000 | Zip (19.06 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (19.06 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 2001 | Zip (19.31 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (19.31 MB, 09 May 2025) | N/A |
| 2002 | Zip (26.52 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (26.52 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (2.39 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2003 | Zip (28.12 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (28.12 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (3.7 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2004 | Zip (29.49 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (29.49 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (4.18 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2005 | Zip (88.79 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (25.21 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (4.27 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2006 | Zip (179.33 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (29.31 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (5.17 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2007 | Zip (193.31 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (26.31 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (4.34 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2008 | Zip (277.36 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (48.01 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (6.62 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2009 | Zip (280.11 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (42.09 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (5.44 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2010 | Zip (297.04 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (39.82 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (5.26 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2011 | Zip (307.25 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (53.74 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (6.64 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2012 | Zip (282.84 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (41.84 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (5.31 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2013 | Zip (265.98 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (36.41 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (4.76 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2014 | Zip (269.24 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (33.66 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (4.52 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2015 | Zip (264.37 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (38.51 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (5.26 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2016 | Zip (248.22 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (37.75 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (5.03 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2017 | Zip (255.16 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (38.95 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (5.23 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2018 | Zip (266.85 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (36.21 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (5 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2019 | Zip (271.98 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (42.64 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (5.82 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2020 | Zip (259.78 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (39.62 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (5.02 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2021 | Zip (284.21 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (39.01 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (5.23 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2022 | Zip (313.79 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (41.29 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (5.42 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2023 | Zip (326.82 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (47.34 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (6.49 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2024 | Zip (335.01 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (45.31 MB, 09 May 2025) | Zip (6.19 MB, 09 May 2025) |
| 2025 | Zip (329.41 MB, 31 Dec 2025) | Zip (48.03 MB, 31 Dec 2025) | Zip (5.93 MB, 31 Dec 2025) |
| 2026 | Zip (250.37 MB, 05 Sep 2026) | Zip (43.47 MB, 05 Sep 2026) | Zip (5.64 MB, 05 Sep 2026) |
Service Changes
24 Apr 2026:
KML export was rewritten and does attempt to do county/zone based
warnings as well. The description data is a bit different now as
well. Can certainly iterate on functionality!
10 Apr 2024: Polygons associated with CANcel VTEC
events when the event is still active for other areas have been culled from
the database and thus this portal. These were not providing any value and
were confusing users.
12 Mar 2019: Added
UPDATED column to the
dataset providing the timestamp of the most recent NWS Text Product for
the event.
Archive Status
| Dataset Component | Start Time | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Tornado Severe T'storm Flash Flood Special Marine |
1 Jan 2002 (Polygons) 1 Jan 1986 (Counties) |
Only the initial polygon is used. Polygon updates in the SVS statements are ignored. The VTEC attributes didn't appear until they became operational. |
| All VTEC watch/warn | 12 Nov 2005 | Products other than Tornado and Severe Thunderstorm Warnings. |
| SVR,TOR Watch by County | 12 Nov 2005 |
Publications Citing IEM Data (View All)
These are the most recent 10 publications that have cited the usage of data from this page. This list is not exhaustive, so please let us know if you have a publication that should be added.
- Nori-Sarma, A., B. Cartwright, et al. 2026, Impact of the summer 2025 heatwaves on emergency department visits in the USA. Nature Health. https://doi.org/10.1038/s44360-026-00194-y
- Trepanier, J., R. Cockran, et al. 2026, Threat of Flash Floods to Galleries, Libraries, Archives, and Museums in the United States. Weather Climate and Society https://doi.org/10.1175/WCAS-D-26-0050.1
- Gunter, W., L. White, et al. 2026, Tornado Emergency! A review of their history, climatology, and associated tornadoes. Weather, Climate, and Society. https://doi.org/10.1175/WCAS-D-26-0032.1
- McGinty, C. 2026, Comparing Forecast Techniques for Overlapping Tornado and Flash Flood Events. University of Oklahoma. Masters Thesis https://www.proquest.com/docview/3371376617
- Gagn´e, M., G. Koonts, et al. 2026, The Effect Of Warning Message Length on Language Model Simulated Response in Emergency Situations. COLM 2026 https://openreview.net/pdf?id=GdgAqQb44q
- Adhikari, P., M. Roohi, et al. Assessing Predictive Accuracy of Tornado Resilience Models Through Post-event Reconnaissance Data Analysis. eartharxiv. https://doi.org/10.31223/X5VZ16
- Thomas, A., J. Trujillo-Falcón, et al. 2026, Public Preferences for Communicating Red Flag Warnings. Weather Climate and Society. https://doi.org/10.1175/WCAS-D-25-0172.1
- Wolff, E., J. Goodnight, et al. 2026, Reflecting on a Decade of Formalized Tornado Emergencies. BAMS. https://doi.org/10.1175/BAMS-D-25-0245.1
- Ali, Z. 2026, Tropical Cyclone Rainfall and Remote Sensing Applications: Insights Into the Global Precipitation Measurement Mission Dual-Frequency Precipitation Radar, Ground-Based Radars, and Flash Flood Warnings. PhD Thesis. University of Florida. https://www.proquest.com/docview/3364717856
- Moore, A., R. Valdez, et al. 2026, An Analysis of the Duration and Severity of Power Outages During Weather Events Across U.S. Counties. Env. Res. Energy. https://doi.org/10.1088/2753-3751/ae854b