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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HEADSUP badge: 8-bit pixel art for the Severe Threat alert

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CORE BADGE

HEADSUP BADGE

ALERT
Severe Threat
CODES
SVR (destructive) · WEA Imminent Threat · Severe
RARITY
★★☆☆☆ UNCOMMON
UPGRADE
RADAR after 10 alerts

“One notch below extreme. Still enough to spill a drink.”

⚠ 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

"Severe" Imminent Threat alerts are one level below Extreme. Most of the ones that reach phones are Severe Thunderstorm Warnings (SVR) from the National Weather Service, and NWS only sends those to phones when the storm's damage threat is tagged destructive (winds of about 80 mph or more, or hail about baseball-size or larger). Local officials can also send Severe-level civil alerts.

Destructive thunderstorms can bring down trees and power lines and damage buildings, much like a weak tornado.

What to do if you get one

  • Get inside a sturdy building now. A car or tent is not safe shelter.
  • Stay away from windows. With extreme winds, move to an interior room on the lowest floor.
  • When thunder roars, go indoors, and stay in for 30 minutes after the last thunder.
  • Avoid driving through the storm, and never drive through flooded roads or around downed power lines.

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

How the badge is earned

A Severe-level WEA covering your home area, such as a destructive Severe Thunderstorm Warning.

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?

UNCOMMON ★★☆☆☆: the UNCOMMON tier means 200 to 999 WEA messages a year nationally. ~551 WEA messages/yr nationally (2023-25 avg: 481 / 561 / 610).

WEA-flagged alert messages in FEMA's IPAWS archive (IPAWS archive filter: SEV_GEN, SVR). One message can cover a small area, so your personal odds are much lower.
YearHEADSUP messagesAll WEA messages
20234817,349
202456110,377
202561010,284
Avg / yr5519,337

How rarity is calculated

Upgrade: RADAR

HEADSUP badgeRADAR, the upgraded HEADSUP badge: pixel art

RADAR

★★★☆☆ RARE

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

“Ten severe warnings. You now read radar loops for fun. Hook echoes don't scare you.”

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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Badge Quest is on its way to iPhone and Android. The store links go live here at launch.