First Alert Action Days: Answering your FAQs

WILMINGTON, N.C. (WECT) - You may have noticed something a little different from your First Alert Weather Team since 2022: the “First Alert Action Day”. Let us answer a few of your frequently asked questions about First Alert Action Days.

Q. What is a First Alert Action Day?

A. Think of a First Alert Action Day as an extension of the First Alert Weather coverage you already expect on TV, your WECT Weather App, and our various social media and streaming platforms. A First Alert Action Day will showcase a weather situation in three pillars: 1) the “what”, the “when”, the knowns and unknowns, 2) a promise of specific coverage from the weather team, and 3) a “call to action” for you to give yourself the best odds to weather the situation safely and smoothly.

Q. What conditions might support a First Alert Action Day?

A. When a severe or disruptive weather situation is especially likely, your First Alert Weather team may issue a First Alert Action Day.

For instance, if the National Weather Service’s Storm Prediction Center highlights the Cape Fear Region in a zone of enhanced risk for severe thunderstorm development, a First Alert Action Day will likely be used to frame the potentially hazardous situation.

In another case: consider a strong winter cold front that is likely to generate downpours followed by a 40-degree temperature drop and a chance of icy puddles. Though these conditions would not meet the traditional criteria of severe weather i.e. damaging winds, tornadoes, etc. your First Alert Weather Team may select a First Alert Action Day to highlight the potentially disruptive nature of the pattern change.

Q. Will the First Alert Weather Team issue First Alert Action Days often?

A. Probably not... Your First Alert Weather Team knows you know your way around a gnarly summer thunderstorm, a frosty winter night, and the generally fickle weather of the Cape Fear Region. You know your First Alert Weather Team has you covered on TV, with your WECT Weather App, and on our other digital and social platforms. Calling a First Alert Action Day is just one extra way for your First Alert Weather Team to accentuate a weather situation and specify how we can navigate it together!

Thank you for your trust!