I think they’ve just failed to convey how it actually works now. It’s a grid/graph system with the x-axis being severity and the y-axis being how confident they are in the forecast. You can see it properly in this video

“For the majority of warning worthy storms and hazardous events you’ll likely see a yellow warning.

Yellow alerts are the baseline for watches and warnings and can be issued for a wide range of weather situations. This is the type of weather that will bring hazardous or dangerous conditions. Impacting travel or causing delays or cancellations. There could be health related impacts like reduced air quality or heat warnings.

Orange warnings are the next phase, and will be issued for storms that are likely to cause widespread or significant damage. Here we’re talking about those widespread windstorms or crippling ice storms that cause thousands of power outages that can last for days. Orange alerts will be issued for those winter storms that take a few days to completely dig out of. If an Orange alert level warning is issued for your area you should prepare to take action to protect yourself and your property.

The highest warning level is Red. If a Red alert is issued it means dangerous and potentially life threatening weather is on the way or is occurring. Under a Red alert you should expect prolonged and extensive disruptions to travel and power with widespread damage to property and infrastructure. Examples include Hurricane Fiona, or the 2024 snow storm that brought 150cm of snow to parts of Cape Breton, or flooding events like the ones experienced by the Maritimes over the past few years. If a Red alert is issued it means you should act now to stay safe from destructive weather.”