History of Winter weather advisory in Timeline

A winter weather advisory is a statement issued by the National Weather Service for hazardous winter precipitation (snow, freezing rain, sleet, etc.) expected within 36 hours. The precipitation poses a hazard but isn't expected to reach storm warning levels. These advisories are issued by local Weather Forecast Offices.

2002: Renaming of Traveler's Advisory to Winter Weather Advisory

In 2002, the Traveler's Advisory was officially renamed the Winter Weather Advisory during the 2002-03 climatological winter.

December 2007: Snow Advisory Example

In December 2007, the National Weather Service office in Great Falls, Montana issued a Snow Advisory for Snow.

2007: Hazardous travel conditions advisory designation

Until the 2007-08 winter storm season, the Winter Weather Advisory was designated to indicate hazardous travel conditions.

2008: National Weather Service restructured Winter Weather Advisory

Beginning in the winter of 2008-09, the National Weather Service restructured the Winter Weather Advisory into a general purpose product. This expansion superseded the criterial definitions previously applied to four deprecated precipitation-specific products.

October 2, 2017: Additional variants of Winter Weather Advisory added

On October 2, 2017, the National Weather Service added additional variants of the Winter Weather Advisory, which were implemented for the 2017-18 winter storm season. These additions superseded two other precipitation-based advisory products.