DENVER (KDVR) — A Pinpoint Weather Alert Day has been issued on Wednesday due to the enhanced risk for severe storms across the Denver metro and Eastern Plains. But what exactly does an enhanced risk mean?

The Pinpoint Weather team has been tracking this storm all week, and the threat has been increased from a slight risk to an enhanced risk with the possibility of damaging winds, large hail and even an isolated tornado.

When it comes to spring storms in Colorado, it’s important to understand the different categories as described by the National Weather Service.

Marginal risk

A threat that is defined as a marginal risk is one of the most common categories for thunderstorms. NWS said storms with this risk are similar to ones your area may experience multiple times a year.

This category means some storms could be capable of damaging winds and severe hail.

Slight risk

A storm under the slight risk category means that there is increased confidence that some areas will see storms that produce damaging winds, severe hail and a potential tornado. This risk can be experienced a few times per year.

Wednesday’s storm originally started out as a slight risk with isolated and scattered impacts.

Enhanced risk

An enhanced risk category is an intense threat. This category isn’t common, with the NWS describing it as a storm your area may only experience once or twice a year.

This category means there is high confidence that several storms will produce damaging winds, severe hail and tornadoes.

Wednesday’s storm now falls under this category.

Moderate risk

Moderate is the second-most dangerous category. NWS said it’s rare to see this type of threat and it may only occur once per year or even less.

There is high confidence that many storms will contain damaging winds, severe hail and tornadoes. The storms that are produced are likely to be significant.

High risk

And finally, the worst category is a high-risk storm. This category is so intense that NWS said it may only be seen once or twice in an entire lifetime.

There is high confidence that an outbreak of storms in the area will contain multiple tornadoes, damaging winds and severe hail.

Where to see weather alerts

If a severe weather alert is issued for your area, whether it is a thunderstorm watch or warning, tornado watch or tornado warning, it will always show up at the top of the FOX31 website. You can see all weather alerts here.

The Pinpoint Weather team will continue to update the forecast multiple times each day.