Winter Storm Preparedness Guide: Before, During, and After

Winter storm preparedness is a sequence of decisions. The goal is to finish travel, outdoor work, supply checks, and heating preparation before conditions make those tasks unsafe.

This guide follows the storm from forecast through recovery. If the power fails, switch to the Winter Outage Guide for heat, pipes, food, and leave decisions. Use the 72-Hour Winter Kit when the task is packing home, vehicle, and evacuation supplies.

Start with the National Weather Service winter safety guidance and local emergency management. Forecasts, road restrictions, warming centers, and alert criteria vary by location.

Understand the alert, then check local details

A watch means hazardous winter weather is possible. A warning generally means hazardous conditions are occurring, imminent, or highly likely. Advisories cover hazardous conditions that may be less severe than warning criteria but can still disrupt travel and daily activity.

The exact thresholds differ by local NWS office. Open the alert, read the affected area, timing, expected hazards, and recommended action. Do not act from the headline alone. The Winter Storm Watch vs. Warning Guide explains the terms and links to official alert sources.

Several days before possible impact

• Confirm how the household receives Wireless Emergency Alerts and local notifications.
• Review who may be at work, school, care, or another location.
• Refill ordinary prescriptions through the normal medical process. Ask a pharmacist about emergency options rather than changing doses or storage yourself.
• Check water, familiar food, pet supplies, light, batteries, and sanitation items.
• Find snow tools, warm clothing, blankets, and the vehicle kit.
• Review the primary and alternate heated locations.
• Test smoke and carbon monoxide alarms on the manufacturer’s schedule.
• Review generator, heater, power station, and medical-device manuals.
• Check the heating system, exposed plumbing, roof drainage, and known maintenance issues.

Use the Monthly Winter Prep Calendar for work that belongs before forecast pressure.

One to two days before expected impact

Complete tasks that become unsafe in wind, ice, snow, or darkness.

• Charge phones, power banks, approved medical-device backups, and battery lights.
• Bring in or secure outdoor objects without climbing in unsafe conditions.
• Move vehicles according to local parking or snow-route instructions.
• Fuel the vehicle if travel is safe and needed.
• Place flashlights, shoes, coats, and the kit where they can be reached in the dark.
• Fill clean water containers if local officials or the utility recommend it.
• Set refrigerator and freezer thermometers where they can be read later.
• Send the household plan and check-in time to the out-of-area contact.

Avoid last-minute travel for optional supplies. A missing specialty item is rarely worth driving into deteriorating conditions.

Prepare for an outage without creating another hazard

Use the Outage Readiness Planner to identify essential loads and backup locations. Keep the plan modest: health needs, communication, a few lights, refrigeration when appropriate, and water or sump equipment if relevant.

The backup power systems guide can help organize the decision. It cannot approve wiring, transfer equipment, grounding, medical-device compatibility, or generator placement.

The CDC generator safety guidance requires generators outdoors and more than 20 feet from doors, windows, and vents. Never use a generator in a home, garage, basement, crawl space, shed, or enclosed porch. Never use a grill, camp stove, cooking oven, homemade burner, or candle device for room heat.

Read Indoor Heating Safety During a Power Outage before the storm.

Protect plumbing

Know the main water shutoff and keep it accessible. Insulate vulnerable pipes before winter using local utility or qualified plumbing guidance.

During extreme cold:

• keep garage doors closed when water lines pass through the garage;
• open sink cabinets only when it is safe for children and pets and helps warm air reach pipes;
• follow local utility instructions on dripping faucets;
• never thaw a pipe with an open flame;
• shut off water and call a qualified plumber when a pipe bursts or cannot be thawed safely.

See the Winterizing and Frozen-Pipe Guide for shutoff access, insulation, local drip guidance, and safe thawing limits.

Food and water

Build from familiar no-cook meals, following the emergency food basics. Use the water storage safety guide to adapt the baseline for household size, pets, and duration.

During an outage, keep refrigerator and freezer doors closed and follow USDA emergency food safety guidance. Do not use smell, appearance, snow, or outside air as the only safety test.

Communication and household coordination

Use one short check-in format with status, location, next action, and next check-in time. Keep essential contacts and meeting locations on paper.

The Emergency Communication Plan covers phone, radio, satellite, and paper layers. The Winter Household Communication Plan focuses on travel delays, school and work separation, and cold-weather meeting decisions.

Travel and vehicle decisions

Follow road closures and local travel instructions. If officials advise people to stay off roads, treat that as a safety action, not an inconvenience.

If travel is unavoidable:

• tell someone the route and expected arrival time;
• use the safest available route, not an unverified shortcut;
• take warm clothing, water, food, medication, light, phone power, and a vehicle emergency kit;
• keep the exhaust pipe clear if stranded with the engine running intermittently;
• remain with the vehicle unless official guidance or immediate danger requires leaving.

The NWS winter driving guidance provides current steps for travel and stranded vehicles.

During the storm

• Follow official alerts and utility updates.
• Avoid unnecessary travel and outdoor work.
• Check household members, especially anyone with medical, mobility, sensory, or temperature needs.
• Monitor smoke and carbon monoxide alarms.
• Keep exterior doors closed but never block required appliance ventilation or exits.
• Reassess food, water, battery, fuel, plumbing, and indoor temperature at regular times.
• Leave for a safe heated place before the household loses the ability to travel safely.

After the storm

Wait for local clearance before travel or cleanup. Avoid downed lines, damaged trees, unstable roofs, floodwater, and snow-hidden hazards. Photograph damage only from a safe location. Contact qualified services for electrical, structural, chimney, roof, and plumbing damage.

Restock used supplies, record what failed, and update the household plan. If power is still out, move to the Winter Power Outage Guide for the next heat, pipe, food, and leave decision.