If your phone suddenly alerted you on Tuesday afternoon, you weren’t alone. Alerts lit up screens from west to east across Northeast Ohio. We're used to this with tornado warnings or Amber Alerts, but snow?
For many people, it felt new. Because it kind of is.
Snow squall warnings only became part of the National Weather Service toolbox in 2018. They’re designed for fast-hitting, high-impact bursts of weather. The kind that go from “fine” to “whiteout” in seconds.
More specifically:
- Heavy snow
- Wind gusts over 40 mph
- Visibility dropping to near zero
- Roads icing up almost instantly
Most winters, we see a few of these warnings pop up. But here’s the part that made Tuesday different: your phone.
That loud Wireless Emergency Alert (WEA) doesn’t go off for every squall. It’s reserved for the worst of the worst — warnings tagged “significant.”
The National Weather Service says that label is saved for rare or especially dangerous situations, often timed with high-traffic periods like the morning or evening commute.
So, Tuesday's alert wasn't random.
It was intentional.
A burst of blinding snow hit right as thousands of people were on the roads, which is exactly what these alerts are meant for. Quick. Intense. Dangerous.
News 5 was live during the snow squall alert:
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