Storm Polly is spreading across the country: How about code red, orange, and code yellow?

It is haunted in Holland today. Code Orange has been issued for large parts of the country and in the North Holland, Flevoland, Friesland and in the IJsselmeer region, the scope of Code Red has been expanded. How about those colors again?

The color codes used by KNMI are intended to indicate the impact of (particularly) dangerous weather. There are four: green, yellow, orange and red. Each of these colors has a specific meaning.

🟢 code green: This means that there are no special weather conditions that require a warning.

🟡 code yellow: This is a warning of possible hazardous weather. It’s a sign that you need to be vigilant, especially when you’re on the road. This code can be issued up to 48 hours before the expected weather event.

🟠 code orange: This is a severe weather warning with a high risk of damage, injury, or major upset. This code can be issued up to 24 hours in advance.

🔴 code Rod: This is a weather alert for severe weather that could have a significant impact on a community. It can lead to so much harm, injury, and inconvenience that it can be socially devastating.

Specific standards are set for each color code. These criteria vary depending on the type of weather, such as rain, ice, snow, thunderstorms, wind, temperature, and visibility. For winds, a yellow code is issued if there is a chance of winds of more than 75 kmph. If wind gusts are expected to be over 100 kilometers per hour, it will turn orange. Very strong winds of up to 120 kilometers per hour are expected for today!

Why do storms sometimes have names?

Today poly is raging all over our country. By naming storms, meteorological institutes like KNMI want to make people aware that a storm can be dangerous. After all, talking about “Storm Poly” is much more catchy than talking about “storm”: the likelihood of a weather warning reaching more people is simply greater when the name of the storm is used. 52 percent of Dutch think naming storms is a good idea; For 30 percent this is not necessarily necessary.

What symbol gives storms a name?

In the Netherlands, only storms for which the orange symbol or red symbol have been issued have a name. Sometimes a storm even gets its own name with a yellow symbol. For example, because there’s a good chance it will have to live up to Code Orange, or because the storm originated in the UK, it will therefore end up with the name and all. This year’s names can be found in the list of storm names 2022-2023. This list is compiled by the Netherlands, Great Britain and Ireland. Polly’s name is not on the list. This is because the German weather service (which does not cooperate with KNMI and the British and Irish meteorological services in terms of names) has already given the storm a name.