Do you know what these color-coded rainfall advisories mean?

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration(PAGASA) is a

government agency that utilizes scientific knowledge as an effective instrument to insure the
safety, well being, and economic security of all the people.

During rainy season, Filipinos turn to PAGASA for weather update releases which are immediately
disseminated by the television channels and news media sites on the internet. Ever wondered
what do those colored symbols you see in infographics on weather reports mean? These are
important pieces of information which help citizens be aware of the storms.

PAGASA issues Public Storm Warning Signals that indicate the intensity, the areas that will be
affected, and the forecast direction and speed of the tropical storm or typhoon.

Yellow Rainfall Advisory

The Yellow rainfall advisory is raised when the expected rainfall amount is between 7.5 mm and
15 mm within one hour and likely to continue. It means that evacuation is not yet needed, but
you should keep yourself updated with the weather condition.

Orange Rainfall Advisory

The Orange rainfall advisory is raised in areas where rainfall is between 15 mm and 30 mm within
one hour. It automatically means that flood is threatening and evacuation might be possible.

Red Rainfall Advisory

The Red rainfall advisory is raised when observed rainfall is more than 30 mm within one hour or
if rainfall has continued for the past three hours and is more than 65 mm. It signifies serious
flooding in low lying areas and people living nearby should immediately evacuate.
What do Yellow, Orange, and Red rainfall warning signals mean?

It was a laudable effort on the part of PAGASA back in 2012 to use color codes to simplify its Rainfall
Warning System. However I instantly got confused and wondered why they initially used a “Green
Warning” to refer to the middle warning level when, in most cases, “green” is associated with nature and
symbolizes calmness. In fact, in traffic signals, the green light means “Go” or to continue with what you
are doing.

Based on my research, apparently PAGASA used the Yellow-Green-Red color scheme because the colors
refer to the visualization of the amount of rain in PAGASA’s meteorological maps. This makes sense for
weathermen and meteorologists — but not for the average Filipino.

New PAGASA Color-Coded Rainfall Warning Signals

This is why it’s a welcome surprise when PAGASA and the Department of Science and Technology
(DOST) later announced that they are replacing the “Green” warning signal with “Orange”.

Thus the new color-coded rainfall warning signals being used by PAGASA are:

 Yellow: MONITOR weather conditions

 Orange: ALERT for possible danger and evacuation

 Red: EVACUATE due to high potential of danger

Now this makes a lot of sense. Let’s find out below what exactly these warning signals mean.

What the colors mean: Yellow, Orange, Red warning signals

The “Yellow” signal remains as the most basic level. It means that there is heavy rain — or 7.5 to 15 mm
of rain has been observed in the past hour and is expected to continue at this level. Flooding is possible
that’s why people must MONITOR weather conditions and listen to weather updates in order to be
constantly informed.

In short, YELLOW warning means “heavy rains are expected, flooding is possible, so monitor
weather conditions.” Not a pressing emergency yet, but people should monitor and be alert for any
adverse changes in weather conditions.

The “Orange” signal, meanwhile, is the next level of warning. The “orange signal” means rain is intense,
or in technical terms, around 15 to 30 mm of rain has been observed in the past hour and is expected to
continue at this level in the next two hours. People are advised to be ALERT for possible evacuation
because flood may be a definite threat.

Thus, an ORANGE warning is a sign that “with intense rains, flooding is threatening, and the public
is advised to be alert for possible evacuation.” In short, be ready to evacuate if you’re in areas under
the Orange warning signal.
The “Red” signal constitutes an emergency. Serious flooding is expected, especially in low lying areas,
because the amount of rain has reached a critical level, that is, more than 30 mm observed in the past hour
and expected to continue in the next two hours. People are advised to EVACUATE when the “Red”
signal is raised in their areas.

With a RED warning signal, “torrential rains could cause serious flooding in some areas, so affected
residents must evacuate as soon as possible.” In simple terms: evacuate! Rains and flooding could get
worse in areas placed under the Red warning signal, so evacuate and be safe!