Particularly dangerous situation

Common card · No. 477355

In weather forecasting in the United States, "particularly dangerous situation" (PDS) is wording occasionally used by the National Weather Service in their watch and warning messages to convey heightened urgency for a severe weather event that is unusually and particularly extreme and life-threatening compared to the norm for the type of event. It is used in the format "This is a particularly dangerous situation..." at the discretion of the issuing forecaster. A watch or warning bearing the phrase is referred to as a PDS watch or PDS warning. First used by the Storm Prediction Center (SPC), a national guidance center of the National Weather Service, for tornado watches, the phrase was later applied to other severe weather watches and warnings by the agency's regional forecast offices. It is most commonly used for major tornado outbreaks or long-lived, extreme derecho events, and has been used for non-convective weather hazards such as exceptional flash flooding, or a wildfire. PDS watches...

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