Thane_Bitter
Yellow
Yellow alert symbol: A yellow band surrounding a solid black circle. The solid black circle contains a yellow exclamation mark inside it.
Hazardous weather may cause damage, disruption, or health impacts
Impacts are moderate, localized and/or short-term
Yellow alerts are the most common
Orange
Orange alert symbol: An orange band surrounding a solid black diamond. The solid black diamond contains an orange exclamation mark inside it.
Severe weather is likely to cause significant damage, disruption, or health impacts
Impacts are major, widespread and/or may last a few days
Orange alerts are uncommon
Red
Red alert symbol: A red band surrounding a solid white triangle. The solid white triangle contains a red exclamation mark inside it.
Very dangerous and possibly life-threatening weather will cause extreme damage and disruption
Impacts are extensive, widespread, and prolonged
Red alerts are rare
That’s the official description - other articles list things like: Heavy snow, heavy rainfall, thunderstorms, high winds are typical of yellow alerts, Severe thunderstorms with large hail, rain with flash flooding, blizzard warnings, lower category hurricane impacts, and similar will typically warrant an orange, and red is typically reserved for tornado warnings, widespread flooding conditions, and higher category direct hurricane impacts.
