diff --git a/docs/architecture.md b/docs/architecture.md
index 3bfeb32..d003bb8 100644
--- a/docs/architecture.md
+++ b/docs/architecture.md
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ A two-minute spike raises the peak and leaves the p95 low; an hour spent at that
 
 A metric a plugin registers with `learn_normal()` gets a normal per hour of the day, then per hour of the week once three weeks of history exist (`metric_norms`, relearned hourly by `metric_norms`; `steward/core/norms.py`).
 
-Every minute, `metric_anomalies` averages each learned key's last 15 minutes and compares it with the normal for that hour. A level above the usual hold ×1.25, and above the metric's floor, opens an anomaly (`steward/core/anomalies.py`):
+Every minute, `metric_anomalies` averages each learned key's last 15 minutes and compares it with the normal for that hour. A level above the usual hold ×1.25, and above the metric's floor, has departed. It opens an anomaly once it is also past the usual peak for that hour, or held: the median of the last hour is over the same line. A burst of a few minutes within the usual peak lifts the 15-minute average and opens nothing (`steward/core/anomalies.py`):
 - `metric_anomalies` holds one row per item to review. A repeat while the row still waits joins it as another occurrence (`metric_anomaly_spans`).
 - A row is `to_review` until someone marks it `normal` or `real` (Alerts → Anomalies, or MCP `review_anomaly`). An ended row nobody reviews within `anomalies.review_days` (14) becomes `lapsed`.
 - Learning skips every hour an occurrence covers unless its anomaly was marked `normal`, so a new level is never learned without review.
diff --git a/steward/core/anomalies.py b/steward/core/anomalies.py
index 64e137c..2c2dd3f 100644
--- a/steward/core/anomalies.py
+++ b/steward/core/anomalies.py
@@ -2,8 +2,12 @@
 
 Every minute the last WINDOW of each learned key is averaged and compared
 with the normal for the slot it falls in (steward.core.norms). A level above
-the slot's usual hold by DEPART times, and by at least the metric's floor,
-opens an occurrence; the occurrence ends when the level comes back.
+the slot's usual hold by DEPART times, and by at least the metric's floor, has
+departed. That opens an occurrence once it is also outside what the normal
+records in height or in time: higher than the slot's usual peak, or held, with
+most of the last HELD above the line. A burst of a few minutes within the
+usual peak lifts the average for a while and opens nothing. The occurrence ends
+when the level comes back under the line.
 
 What the operator ruled (System 182 "Metric Norms and Anomalies"):
 - A departure is a warning, marked as a metric anomaly, and stays "to review"
@@ -28,6 +32,7 @@ from steward.timeline.record import anomaly_changed
 
 WINDOW = timedelta(minutes=15)   # the level judged is this window's average
 DEPART = 1.25                    # times the slot's usual hold that counts as a departure
+HELD = timedelta(hours=1)        # a level within the usual peak opens once the median of this is out
 # An occurrence that comes back within one window of ending continues the
 # same occurrence: a level wobbling around the line is one event, not ten.
 REJOIN = WINDOW
@@ -118,6 +123,32 @@ async def levels_now(session, now: datetime) -> dict[tuple[str, str, str], float
     return {(s, r, m): float(level) for s, r, m, level in rows}
 
 
+# The median, as a burst moves an average of the same stretch but not this.
+_HELD_LEVELS = text("""
+SELECT k.s, k.r, k.m, v.held
+FROM unnest(:sources, :resources, :metrics) AS k(s, r, m)
+CROSS JOIN LATERAL (
+    SELECT percentile_cont(0.5) WITHIN GROUP (ORDER BY p.value) AS held FROM plugin_metrics p
+    WHERE p.source_module = k.s AND p.resource_name = k.r AND p.metric_name = k.m
+      AND p.recorded_at >= :since AND p.recorded_at <= :now
+) v
+WHERE v.held IS NOT NULL
+""").bindparams(bindparam("sources", type_=ARRAY(String)), bindparam("resources", type_=ARRAY(String)),
+                bindparam("metrics", type_=ARRAY(String)))
+
+
+async def held_levels(session, keys: list[tuple[str, str, str]], now: datetime) -> dict[tuple[str, str, str], float]:
+    """{(source, resource, metric): the median of its last HELD}. Asked only of
+    keys that have departed and stayed within their usual peak, so the longer
+    read isn't paid for the rest."""
+    if not keys:
+        return {}
+    rows = await session.execute(_HELD_LEVELS, {
+        "sources": [k[0] for k in keys], "resources": [k[1] for k in keys], "metrics": [k[2] for k in keys],
+        "since": now - HELD, "now": now})
+    return {(s, r, m): float(held) for s, r, m, held in rows}
+
+
 async def detect(session, now: datetime | None = None) -> dict:
     """One pass: open, extend and close occurrences. Runs inside the caller's
     transaction. Returns {"opened", "closed"} counts."""
@@ -135,10 +166,13 @@ async def detect(session, now: datetime | None = None) -> dict:
     }
     opened = closed = 0
     changed: list[MetricAnomaly] = []       # opened, joined or ended: their timeline entries follow
+    out_now = {key for key, level in levels.items()
+               if key in norms and departs(level, norms[key], LEARNED[(key[0], key[2])].least_departure)}
+    held = await held_levels(session, [key for key in out_now
+                                       if key not in open_now and levels[key] <= norms[key].usual_peak], now)
     for key, level in levels.items():
         norm = norms.get(key)
-        learned = LEARNED.get((key[0], key[2]))
-        out = norm is not None and learned is not None and departs(level, norm, learned.least_departure)
+        out = key in out_now
         current = open_now.pop(key, None)
         if current is not None:
             span, anomaly = current
@@ -148,8 +182,11 @@ async def detect(session, now: datetime | None = None) -> dict:
                 _close(anomaly, span, now)
                 changed.append(anomaly)
                 closed += 1
-        elif out:
-            changed.append(await _occur(session, key, level, norm, now))
+        elif out and level > norm.usual_peak:
+            changed.append(await _occur(session, key, level, norm, now, WINDOW))
+            opened += 1
+        elif out and departs(held.get(key, 0.0), norm, LEARNED[(key[0], key[2])].least_departure):
+            changed.append(await _occur(session, key, level, norm, now, HELD))
             opened += 1
     # An open occurrence whose key stopped reporting, lost its normal or fell
     # below its gate can't be judged any more: it ends now.
@@ -175,11 +212,12 @@ def _close(anomaly: MetricAnomaly, span: MetricAnomalySpan, now: datetime) -> No
     anomaly.ended_at = now
 
 
-async def _occur(session, key, level: float, norm: Norm, now: datetime) -> MetricAnomaly:
+async def _occur(session, key, level: float, norm: Norm, now: datetime, judged_over: timedelta) -> MetricAnomaly:
     """A departure on a key with no open occurrence: join the key's anomaly
-    still to review, or open a new one. Returns the anomaly."""
+    still to review, or open a new one, starting where the stretch it was
+    judged over starts. Returns the anomaly."""
     source, resource, metric = key
-    start = now - WINDOW
+    start = now - judged_over
     anomaly = (await session.execute(
         select(MetricAnomaly)
         .where(MetricAnomaly.source_module == source, MetricAnomaly.resource_name == resource,
diff --git a/steward/mcp/tools/anomalies.py b/steward/mcp/tools/anomalies.py
index 5b6a6f0..2937f71 100644
--- a/steward/mcp/tools/anomalies.py
+++ b/steward/mcp/tools/anomalies.py
@@ -52,7 +52,8 @@ def _row(v: anom.AnomalyView) -> dict:
 async def list_anomalies(review: str = "to_review", limit: int = 50) -> dict:
     """Metric anomalies: a learned metric whose 15-minute level went well
     above what is normal for it at that hour (its usual hold ×1.25, and by
-    more than the metric's floor).
+    more than the metric's floor), and either past how high it usually goes
+    (`usual_peak`) or held there for most of an hour.
 
     review: "to_review" (default) — waiting for someone to mark them; "normal"
     — accepted, their hours are learned; "real" — a real problem, not learned;
@@ -263,8 +264,9 @@ def slot_label(kind: str, slot: int) -> str:
 
 
 def flag_above(norm_hold: float, floor: float) -> float:
-    """The 15-minute level that would open an anomaly in a slot whose usual
-    hold is `norm_hold` (anomalies.departs)."""
+    """The 15-minute level that has departed in a slot whose usual hold is
+    `norm_hold` (anomalies.departs). It opens an anomaly past the usual peak,
+    or once held."""
     return max(norm_hold * anom.DEPART, norm_hold + floor)
 
 
@@ -287,8 +289,10 @@ async def get_metric_normal(source_module: str, resource: str, metric: str) -> d
     (168 hours from Monday 00:00 UTC, once 21 days do). Each slot gives
     `usual_hold` (the level its hours usually held: each hour's p95, at the
     90th percentile across past days), `usual_peak` (how high they usually
-    went), `days_seen`, and `flag_above`: the 15-minute average that would
-    open an anomaly there (usual hold ×1.25, and at least `floor` above it).
+    went), `days_seen`, and `flag_above`: the 15-minute average that has
+    departed there (usual hold ×1.25, and at least `floor` above it). A
+    departure opens an anomaly once it passes `usual_peak`, or when the median
+    of the last hour is over `flag_above` too.
     `floor` is the smallest departure worth calling an anomaly, and
     `floor_setting` the Settings → Thresholds floor it comes from. Hours an
     anomaly covers are learned only once someone marks it normal.
diff --git a/tests/integration/test_anomalies.py b/tests/integration/test_anomalies.py
index 09d9c34..f5411b1 100644
--- a/tests/integration/test_anomalies.py
+++ b/tests/integration/test_anomalies.py
@@ -104,6 +104,45 @@ def test_a_level_within_its_normal_is_no_anomaly(app, src):
     assert rows == []
 
 
+def _hour_of(app, src: str, res: str, *, level: float, for_minutes: int, then: float = 10.0):
+    """A detection pass after an hour reading `then`, with its last
+    `for_minutes` at `level`, against the normal that holds 10 and peaks at 20."""
+    from sqlalchemy import select
+    from steward.core.anomalies import detect
+    from steward.models.metrics import PluginMetric, PluginMetricLatest
+    from steward.models.norms import MetricAnomaly
+
+    async def _go():
+        async with app.db_sessionmaker() as s:
+            async with s.begin():
+                s.add_all(_norms(src, res))
+                s.add_all([PluginMetric(source_module=src, resource_name=res, metric_name=METRIC,
+                                        value=level if m < for_minutes else then,
+                                        recorded_at=NOW - timedelta(minutes=m)) for m in range(60)])
+                await s.merge(PluginMetricLatest(source_module=src, resource_name=res, metric_name=METRIC,
+                                                 value=level, recorded_at=NOW))
+            async with s.begin():
+                await detect(s, NOW)
+            return list((await s.execute(select(MetricAnomaly).where(MetricAnomaly.resource_name == res))).scalars())
+    return asyncio.run(_go())
+
+
+def test_a_burst_within_its_usual_peak_is_no_anomaly(app, src):
+    # 18 is over the line (15) and under the usual peak (20), for 15 minutes of the hour.
+    assert _hour_of(app, src, _res("burst"), level=18.0, for_minutes=15) == []
+
+
+def test_a_burst_past_its_usual_peak_is_an_anomaly(app, src):
+    (a,) = _hour_of(app, src, _res("tall"), level=30.0, for_minutes=15)
+    assert a.started_at == NOW - timedelta(minutes=15)
+
+
+def test_a_level_within_its_usual_peak_is_an_anomaly_once_held(app, src):
+    # The system running at its peaked rate: never past the peak, but not a burst.
+    (a,) = _hour_of(app, src, _res("held"), level=18.0, for_minutes=45)
+    assert a.started_at == NOW - timedelta(hours=1) and a.peak_level == 18.0
+
+
 def test_a_step_change_stays_open_and_to_review(app, src):
     from steward.core.anomalies import TO_REVIEW
     res = _res("step")