Badge Quest
Do not seek out these events. They will find you. Badge Quest is a game, not an official alert source. Always follow official instructions from your local authorities and the alert itself. Not affiliated with FEMA, the National Weather Service or the FCC.

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BLIZZARD badge: 8-bit pixel art for the Snow Squall Warning alert

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CORE BADGE

BLIZZARD BADGE

ALERT
Snow Squall Warning
CODES
SQW
RARITY
★★★☆☆ RARE
UPGRADE
YETI after 10 alerts

“Not technically a blizzard: a Snow Squall Warning, the only snow alert NWS sends to phones. Still felt like one.”

⚠ Do not seek out these events. They will find you.

Never travel toward a storm, fire, flood or any emergency to earn a badge. This page is general safety information, not an alert. If you get a real alert, follow the instructions in it and from local officials.

What this alert means

A Snow Squall Warning (SQW) is for a short, intense burst of heavy snow and strong wind that drops visibility to near zero and turns roads icy in minutes. Snow squalls usually pass in under an hour, but they cause deadly highway pileups.

Why is it called BLIZZARD? The National Weather Service does not send Blizzard Warnings to phones. The Snow Squall Warning is the only winter warning NWS sends as a WEA, so it is the one that earns this badge.

What to do if you get one

  • Avoid or delay travel until the squall passes.
  • If you are already driving and cannot exit in time: slow down, turn on your headlights and hazard lights, and leave plenty of space ahead.
  • Do not slam on the brakes. On icy roads that can cause a loss of control and chain-reaction crashes.

Summarized from the official guidance below. The alert itself and your local authorities always come first.

How the badge is earned

Your home area is inside a Snow Squall Warning polygon.

It happens automatically. The Badge Quest server reads the public FEMA IPAWS and National Weather Service alert feeds and awards the badge when an alert's official target area covers the home area you set (ZIP code or location). There's nothing to log or claim, and it can't be faked.

How rare is it?

RARE ★★★☆☆: the RARE tier means 50 to 199 WEA messages a year nationally. ~62 WEA messages/yr nationally (2023-25 avg: 49 / 87 / 51).

WEA-flagged alert messages in FEMA's IPAWS archive (IPAWS archive filter: SQW). One message can cover a small area, so your personal odds are much lower.
YearBLIZZARD messagesAll WEA messages
2023497,349
20248710,377
20255110,284
Avg / yr629,337

Snow squalls are the only winter warning NWS sends to phones.

How rarity is calculated

Upgrade: YETI

BLIZZARD badgeYETI, the upgraded BLIZZARD badge: pixel art

YETI

★★★★☆ EPIC

After 10 different qualifying alerts for your area, the game shows “Hold on... your BLIZZARD badge is upgrading!” and then “Your BLIZZARD badge was upgraded to a YETI!”. Repeats of the same alert don't count twice.

“Ten snow squalls. You have become one with the whiteout. Hikers report sightings.”

Upgraded badges rank one rarity tier above their base badge (capped at LEGENDARY). That tier is a game rule, not a separate statistic.

Part of these combo badges

Official sources

Rarity data

Collect them all

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