INT-21 Reading the Alert

INT-21: Reading the Alert

Weather Threat Assessment & Action Triggers

Course Overview, One Page

A single printable page covering what INT-21 teaches, the 5 lessons, what you need before starting, and the doctrinal sources behind the method. Useful for deciding whether the course is for you, or for handing to somebody in your group who is weighing it up.

Why This Course

BLUF: An alert sounding is not the end of the task — it’s the start of it. This course teaches you to read the tier in an alert’s header, recognize the hazard family behind the product code, and act inside the time window each one actually gives you, instead of finding out the hard way that a Watch and a Warning are not the same thing.

By the end of this course, you’ll be able to:

  • Correctly rank the severity implied by Advisory, Watch, Warning, and Emergency wording, across any hazard family.
  • Identify which hazard family an alert belongs to — severe convective, winter, flood, marine, or civil — without looking it up.
  • State your household’s pre-committed action for each alert type before it happens, not decide it in the moment.
  • Recognize the realistic time-to-act window behind each alert type and act inside it.

Lessons

Lesson 1

The Naming Logic

What Advisory, Watch, Warning, and Statement actually tell you — and the rare Emergency wording above them all.

Lesson 2

Severe Convective Hazards

Severe Thunderstorm and Tornado products, the considerable/destructive damage tags, and the minutes-not-hours Tornado Warning clock.

Lesson 3

Winter, Flood, and Marine Hazards

Winter Storm, Ice Storm, and Blizzard criteria; the Flood vs. Flash Flood distinction; and the marine ladder from Small Craft Advisory to Storm Warning.

Lesson 4

Non-Weather and Civil Alerts

Civil Emergency Message, Evacuation Immediate, and public-safety alerts — plus how to weigh a civil alert before acting on it.

Lesson 5

From Alert to Action: Building Your Triggers

The capstone: build a one-page household trigger sheet mapping every alert type to a pre-committed action and time budget.

How This Course Works

5 Short Lessons Each lesson runs well under fifteen minutes and unlocks the next once you pass its Knowledge Check.
Self-Paced Your progress saves in your browser — pick up where you left off any time.
Capstone Deliverable Lesson 5 walks you through building your own household trigger sheet, the course’s core takeaway.
Certificate of Completion Unlocks on the Course Map once all 5 lessons are complete.

Start the Course →

Fortune Favors the Prepared · Semper Paratus, Semper Gumby · fortunefavorstheprepared.com