GREYS

Tornado Watch

#ABA698

RGB 171, 166, 152 · HSL 44°, 10%, 63% · CMYK 0, 3, 11, 33

Tornado Watch is #ABA698 in HEX — rgb(171, 166, 152), hsl(44°, 10%, 63%), cmyk(0%, 3%, 11%, 33%).

Tornado Watch pulls into the light end of the greys spectrum — HSL 44°, 10%, 63%. The neutral saturation makes it near-neutral and forgiving, and the hue reads cool. In interior projects it shines on walls, soft furniture, hard surfaces — as the project's quiet backbone. Reads best alongside white trim, natural wood, brass, soft black accents.

Color Codes

HEX#ABA698

RGB171, 166, 152

HSL44°, 10%, 63%

HSV44°, 11%, 67%

CMYK0, 3, 11, 33

Decimal11249304

CSS RGBrgb(171, 166, 152)

CSS HSLhsl(44, 10%, 63%)

Paint Matches — this color across 16 brands

Valspar

Gray Silt 6002-1C

ΔE 0.4 · #ACA799

Dulux

Amazing Boulder S17A3

ΔE 1 · #A9A697

Benjamin Moore

Rockport HC-105

ΔE 1.2 · #A9A396

Vista Paint

Indian Hills C-560

ΔE 1.6 · #ADA599

Sherwin-Williams

Downing Stone SW2821

ΔE 1.8 · #A6A397

PPG

Sharkskin 1025-4

ΔE 1.8 · #B1AA9C

Behr

Espresso Martini N210-4

ΔE 1.9 · #A5A394

Hallman-Lindsay

Indian Hills 561

ΔE 2 · #AEA69B

Colorhouse

Stone .05 Stone-05

ΔE 2.2 · #AAA593

Farrow & Ball

Pigeon 25

ΔE 3 · #A1A093

Kilz

Khaki LL220

ΔE 3.3 · #B3A997

Dunn-Edwards

Shaggy Barked DEC771

ΔE 3.6 · #B3AB98

IKEA

IKEA169 169

ΔE 3.9 · #B7AE9D

Dutch Boy

Drifting Sand DCP-0218

ΔE 5.3 · #B6B2A9

RAL

Signal Grey 7004

ΔE 7.3 · #969992

Kobra

Grey 42

ΔE 16.2 · #889099

Light Reflectance & Undertone

Light Reflectance Value (LRV)

38/100

Medium

0 · DarkLight · 100

Balanced reflectance — holds colour without washing out. Versatile for most rooms and the most forgiving range for true-to-chip results.

Undertone

TemperatureWarm MasstoneOrange UndertoneYellow

A near-neutral with a subtle warm yellow undertone — it will pick up colour from surrounding surfaces and shift noticeably under different light.

Color Theory

Complementary

#ABA698

#979CAA

Analogous

#AA9C97

#ABA698

#A6AA97

Triadic

#ABA698

#97AAA5

#A597AA

Split-Complementary

#ABA698

#97A6AA

#9C97AA

Tetradic

#ABA698

#97AA9C

#979CAA

#AA97A6

Monochromatic

#5D584C

#87806E

#ABA698

#CDCAC1

#EFEEEB

Rectangle

#ABA698

#9CAA97

#979CAA

#A597AA

Compound

#ABA698

#A6AA97

#979CAA

#9C97AA

Variations

Lighter

#BBB7AC

#CBC9C2

#E0DFDC

Darker

#8E8773

#625D4F

#39362D

Saturation

#A3A29E

#AAA597

#D5B96D

Interior Use

Best Rooms

living rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms

Best Uses

walls, soft furniture, hard surfaces

Pairs With

white trim, natural wood, brass, soft black accents

Accessibility (WCAG)

vs White

2.43:1

Fail

vs Black

8.64:1

AAA

Deuteranopia

#ABA698

#AAA799

Original → Simulated

Protanopia

#ABA698

#A7A79A

Original → Simulated

Tritanopia

#ABA698

#ACA4A6

Original → Simulated

Color Psychology

Quiet · Versatile

Tornado Watch gets out of the way so the architecture and the people in the room do the work. The right neutral is never a default — it reads warm or cool, dusty or sharp depending on its undertone, and that undertone is what makes or breaks the room.

SymbolismBalance, sophistication, calm

PersonalityAdaptable, considered, timeless

versatileneutraltimelessbackdroptrimwall

How it looks under different light

#C0A98D

Warm Bulb 2700K

Incandescent / soft white LED — pulls colour toward yellow/amber.

#ABA698

Daylight 5500K

Midday natural light or daylight-spec LED — closest to the paint chip.

#ADAEB1

Cool Bulb 6500K

Cool white LED / overcast daylight — pulls colour toward blue.

Pairs With

#EBEBEA

Trim

Matched off-white

Same hue at 92% lightness — trim reads coordinated, not stark.

#F7F7F7

Ceiling

Whisper tint

Near-white with a hint of the hero's undertone — ceiling feels intentional.

#6B7BA6

Accent

Complementary punch

Hue +180°, slightly muted for paint vs. screen — use on a door, frame, or single piece.

#574738

Floor

Walnut neutral

Warm mid-brown grounds the scheme regardless of hero hue.

Paint Info

Brand · Product Line

Benjamin Moore / Regal Select Interior

Recommended Finishes

Eggshell (walls) · Pearl (trim) · Matte (ceiling)

Eggshell hides imperfections on main walls while keeping the color rich; pearl on trim adds subtle sheen and easier cleaning; flat matte on ceilings prevents glare.

Best Surfaces

Primary walls · Cabinetry · Trim · Soft furniture

Coverage & Dry Time

Typical coverage 350-400 sq ft per gallon over a primed surface.

Touch-dry in ~1 hour. Recoat after 4 hours. Full cure 7-14 days.

Primer

Standard primer is adequate.

Application Tip

Use a 9" microfiber roller on walls and a 2.5" angled sash brush for trim cuts. Two coats minimum for even depth.

Paint Calculator

Wall area (m²)

Coats

Coverage (m² / L)

You'll need

4.0 litres

1.06 US gallons · room for one touch-up coat. Buy slightly more to ensure single-batch match.

Code Snippets

CSS — color

color: #ABA698;

CSS — background

background-color: #ABA698;

CSS Variable

--color-tornado-watch: #ABA698;

Tailwind v3 — config

colors: { 'tornado-watch': '#ABA698' }

Tailwind — arbitrary

bg-[#ABA698] text-[#ABA698]

SCSS

$tornado-watch: #ABA698;

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#A8A295 · ΔE 1.5

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#AEAA9D · ΔE 1.6

Chateau

#AAA393 · ΔE 1.7

Upper West Side

#AFA79B · ΔE 1.7

Herbal Escape

#AEAA9A · ΔE 1.8

Sandy Hook Gray

#AEA897 · ΔE 1.8

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#AEA497 · ΔE 2.1

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#A69F93 · ΔE 2.7

Built by DSGN.HOUSE Updated 2026

Our color tools run on our own catalogue of 26,000+ real paint colors across 16 brands — Benjamin Moore, Sherwin-Williams, Behr, Dulux, RAL and more — with the color math (HSL and CIELAB matching) computed in-house, not scraped from summaries. Every color you pick maps to a real, buyable paint with its code, so what you see here you can actually take to the store. We review and update these tools and their data regularly.

Created by Denis Kataev, founder of DSGN.HOUSE — a software engineer and digital entrepreneur building professional color-design tools for everyone.

Frequently Asked Questions

What color is #ABA698?

#ABA698 is Tornado Watch, a soft grey with a cool undertone.

Is #ABA698 warm or cool?

Tornado Watch reads cool, which influences how it interacts with surrounding tones and natural light.

What rooms work best with Tornado Watch?

Tornado Watch works well in living rooms, bedrooms, bathrooms. Designers typically use it for walls, soft furniture, hard surfaces.

What colors pair well with Tornado Watch?

Tornado Watch pairs naturally with white trim, natural wood, brass, soft black accents. Its complementary color is also a strong contrast option for accents.

Where can I download Tornado Watch?

You can download Tornado Watch on DSGN.HOUSE in 15 designer formats including CSS gradient, Figma, Procreate swatches, Tailwind config, Adobe ASE, SVG, and 4K wallpapers — all free.

What's the hex code for Tornado Watch?

The hex code is #ABA698. In RGB it's 171, 166, 152, and in HSL it's 44°, 10%, 63%.

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