Enhanced Historical Tornado Sample
This page provides a complete sample response for an enhanced historical tornado hazard with full NWS enhancement pipeline data. Enhanced historical tornado hazards include post-event analysis aggregated from multiple NWS data sources: Damage Assessment Toolkit (DAT) surveys with EF-scale ratings and tornado path geometries, Storm Prediction Center (SPC) storm reports, and Local Storm Reports (LSR) from NWS field offices.
This sample represents the March 15, 2025 Jackson, MS tornado outbreak (Tornado Watch 44) — a multi-state EF4 outbreak with 21 matched NWS tornado warning events, 23 LSRs, 12 SPC reports, 987 DAT survey points, 28 DAT tornado paths, 166 injuries, and 13 fatalities.
Schema difference: This response uses the legacy DAE hazard schema, not the V2 API format. Key structural differences include:
Top-level fields use
snake_Casenaming (e.g.,hazard_ID,type_ID,create_Date) instead of camelCaseTornado-specific data is in
tornadoAssessmentandtornadoDetails(notincident.properties)Exposure assessment values are wrapped in
{value: ...}objectsSmart alert geometry is in
activeGeography(notalertGeometry)Location metadata is in
locationDetails(not present in V2)There is no
incidentwrapper object
Tornado Assessment (Enhanced Summary)
The tornadoAssessment object provides a high-level summary of the NWS enhancement pipeline results for this tornado watch event. It aggregates totals across all matched tornado warning events and indicates the confirmation status.
Properties:
match_status
string
How this hazard was matched to NWS warnings: EXACT, WATCH_MATCH, PROBABLE, UNMATCHED, or GAP_FILL
touchdown_status
string
Confirmation status: CONFIRMED_TOUCHDOWN, WARNING_ONLY, or ENHANCED_WARNING
source
string
Attribution string for the enhancement source
nws_event_key
array
NWS event keys matched to this hazard (format: {WFO}_{date}_{ETN})
max_ef_rating
string
Maximum EF-scale rating across all matched events (e.g., EF0–EF5, or null)
total_injuries
integer
Total injuries across all matched events
total_fatalities
integer
Total fatalities across all matched events
total_warnings
integer
Number of tornado warnings matched
total_lsr
integer
Total unique Local Storm Reports collected
total_dat_points
integer
Total unique NWS DAT survey points
total_dat_paths
integer
Total unique NWS DAT tornado paths
Match Status Values
EXACT
Warning-level DAE hazard matched 1:1 to a single NWS tornado warning by WFO, year, and ETN
WATCH_MATCH
Watch-level DAE hazard matched to multiple NWS warnings by WFO + spatial/temporal correlation
PROBABLE
Match made but with lower confidence (manual review may be appropriate)
UNMATCHED
No NWS warning correlated to this hazard
GAP_FILL
Backfill record created from NWS data for a tornado not originally tracked in DisasterAWARE
Touchdown Status Values
CONFIRMED_TOUCHDOWN
NWS post-event survey (DAT points/paths or LSRs) confirms a tornado touched down
WARNING_ONLY
A warning was issued but no tornado touchdown was subsequently confirmed
ENHANCED_WARNING
Warning included enhanced wording (e.g., "confirmed large and extremely dangerous tornado")
Tornado Details (Enhanced Detail Data)
The tornadoDetails object uses a deduplicated layout: unique NWS records are stored once in top-level arrays, and each pipeline_events[*] entry references them by id or index. This avoids duplicating survey points or LSRs across events in large outbreaks where many warnings share the same storm reports.
Top-level keys:
match_details
object
How the original hazard was matched to NWS tornado warning events
pipeline_events
array
One entry per matched tornado warning; references the shared arrays below
local_storm_reports
array
Unique NWS Local Storm Reports across all matched events
spc_reports
array
Unique Storm Prediction Center reports across all matched events
dat_points
array
Unique NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit survey points
dat_paths
array
Unique NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit tornado paths
Match Details
The match_details object documents how the original tornado hazard was correlated to individual NWS tornado warning events.
parsed_entries
array
Parsed watch or warning metadata: WFO code, year, plus etn (for warning matches) or watch_etn (for watch matches)
matched_keys
array
NWS event keys that matched this hazard
confidence
string
Match confidence level (e.g., EXACT, PROBABLE)
reason
string
Human-readable explanation of the matching method (present for non-EXACT matches)
Pipeline Events
Each entry in the pipeline_events array represents one matched NWS tornado warning event. Instead of embedding the LSRs, SPC reports, and DAT records inline, the event references them by id (for DAT records) or array index (for LSRs and SPC reports) into the top-level arrays.
event_key
string
Unique event identifier: {WFO}_{date}_{ETN}
wfo
string
NWS Weather Forecast Office code
event_date
string
Date of the event (ISO date)
max_ef_rating
string
Maximum EF-scale rating for this specific event
first_seen_utc
string
When this event was first ingested (ISO 8601)
last_updated_utc
string
When this event was last updated (ISO 8601)
pipeline_version
string
Version of the enhancement pipeline
warnings
array
NWS tornado warnings for this event (embedded)
match_notes
string
Additional notes on the match (nullable)
dat_point_ids
array of integers
DAT point objectid values that apply to this event (look up in top-level dat_points)
dat_path_ids
array of integers
DAT path objectid values that apply to this event (look up in top-level dat_paths)
lsr_indices
array of integers
Array indices into top-level local_storm_reports
spc_indices
array of integers
Array indices into top-level spc_reports
Resolving references: To get the DAT points for a given pipeline event, look up each objectid in dat_point_ids against tornadoDetails.dat_points[*].objectid. LSRs and SPC reports are referenced by array index rather than id.
Warnings
Each entry in a pipeline event's warnings array represents an NWS tornado (or associated severe thunderstorm) warning.
source
string
Data source (e.g., IEM Archive)
warning_type
string
Warning type (e.g., Tornado Warning, Severe Thunderstorm Warning)
alert_id
string
Alert identifier
wfo
string
Issuing Weather Forecast Office
vtec
string
VTEC (Valid Time Event Code) string
etn
string
Event Tracking Number
issued_utc
string
Warning issue time (ISO 8601)
onset_utc
string
Warning onset time (ISO 8601)
expires_utc
string
Warning expiration time (ISO 8601)
tornado_detection
string
Detection method (nullable)
storm_motion
string
Storm motion vector (nullable)
area_desc
string
Affected area description (counties/parishes by state)
polygon
object
GeoJSON MultiPolygon of the warning area
Local Storm Reports (LSR)
Each entry in the top-level local_storm_reports array represents an NWS field report. For the sample outbreak, report_source values include NWS Storm Survey, Emergency Mngr, Trained Spotter, Storm Chaser, Public, Law Enforcement, Local Official, NWS Employee, Official NWS Obs, and Broadcast Media.
source
string
Data source (e.g., IEM LSR)
event_time_utc
string
Time of the reported event (ISO 8601)
filed_utc
string
Time the report was filed (ISO 8601)
lat
number
Latitude of the report
lon
number
Longitude of the report
wfo
string
Reporting Weather Forecast Office
city
string
Nearest city or landmark
county
string
County name
state
string
State abbreviation
report_source
string
Source of the report (e.g., NWS Storm Survey, Emergency Mngr, Trained Spotter)
magnitude
number
Magnitude value (nullable for tornadoes)
remark
string
Free-text description of observed damage or event — may be multi-paragraph NWS survey findings
SPC Storm Reports
Each entry in the top-level spc_reports array represents a Storm Prediction Center report.
source
string
Data source (e.g., SPC Storm Reports)
time_str
string
Report time as 4-digit UTC string (e.g., 1517)
f_scale
string
Fujita/EF-scale rating (e.g., EF2, UNK)
lat
number
Latitude of the report
lon
number
Longitude of the report
location
string
Location description
county
string
County name
state
string
State abbreviation
comments
string
Report comments, often including injury/fatality counts and NWS survey results
DAT Points
Each entry in the top-level dat_points array represents an individual NWS Damage Assessment Toolkit survey point.
source
string
Data source (always NWS DAT)
layer
string
DAT layer type (always points)
objectid
integer
DAT object identifier — referenced by pipeline_events[*].dat_point_ids
ef_scale
string
EF-scale rating at this point (e.g., EF0–EF5, or TSTM/Wind for straight-line wind damage)
lat
number
Latitude of the survey point
lon
number
Longitude of the survey point
wfo
string
Surveying Weather Forecast Office
storm_date
string
Date/time of the storm (UTC)
survey_date
string
Date/time of the damage survey (UTC)
comments
string
Survey comments (nullable; present on a subset of points)
DAT Paths
Each entry in the top-level dat_paths array represents an NWS DAT tornado path with geometry, dimensions, EF-scale, and casualty data.
source
string
Data source (always NWS DAT)
layer
string
DAT layer type (always line)
objectid
integer
DAT object identifier — referenced by pipeline_events[*].dat_path_ids
ef_scale
string
EF-scale rating for this path segment
path_length_mi
number
Tornado path length in miles
path_width_yd
number
Maximum tornado path width in yards
injuries
integer
Injuries along this path
fatalities
integer
Fatalities along this path
wfo
string
Surveying Weather Forecast Office
storm_date
string
Date/time of the storm (UTC)
published_utc
string
Date/time the path was published (UTC)
path_guid
string
Unique path identifier (nullable)
geometry
object
GeoJSON LineString geometry of the tornado path
Legacy Hazard Field Reference
Top-level hazard fields:
hazard_ID
integer
Unique hazard identifier
uuid
string
UUID for the hazard
hazard_Name
string
Full hazard title including location
type_ID
string
Hazard type (e.g., TORNADO)
category_ID
string
Category classification (e.g., EVENT)
severity_ID
string
Severity level (e.g., WATCH, WARNING)
status
string
Active status (A = active)
latitude / longitude
number
Event coordinates
start_Date
string
Event start time in epoch milliseconds
end_Date
string
Event end time in epoch milliseconds
create_Date
string
Record creation time in epoch milliseconds
last_Update
string
Last update time in epoch milliseconds
update_Date
string
Record update time in epoch milliseconds
eaTimestamp
string
Exposure assessment computation timestamp (epoch seconds, fractional)
creator
string
System or user that created the record
update_User
string
System or user that last updated the record
comment_Text
string
Internal comment (e.g., NWS watch identifier)
description
string
Human-readable event description
autoexpire
string
Whether the hazard auto-expires (Y/N)
snc_url
string
URL to the Hazard Brief page
message_ID
string
Internal message identifier
product_total
integer
Number of associated products
tier
string
Access tier (e.g., Enterprise)
tier_tag
string
Short tier code (e.g., ent)
master_Incident_ID
string
Internal incident tracking ID
org_ID
integer
Organization ID (-1 for system-generated)
app_ID
integer
Application ID
in_Dashboard
string
Dashboard visibility flag
locationDetails
object
Structured location metadata (country, state, county, FIPS)
activeGeography
object
Smart alert area geometry with WKT polygon
exposureAssessment
object
Structured exposure data with nested value objects
tornadoAssessment
object
NWS enhancement pipeline summary
tornadoDetails
object
Full NWS enhancement pipeline detail data
Sample Response
This sample shows one complete pipeline_event (event key JAN_2025-03-15_0084) with reference arrays truncated to show only the first 5 ids/indices. The full response for this hazard contains 21 pipeline events. One representative record is shown for each of the top-level shared arrays; the full response contains 23 LSRs, 12 SPC reports, 987 DAT points, and 28 DAT paths. Coordinate arrays and the activeGeography.wkt.text polygon string have been truncated with [...] and ...truncated....
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