diff --git a/pkg/api/cloudwatch/cloudwatch.go b/pkg/api/cloudwatch/cloudwatch.go
index babcf9fddb0..bf281864da5 100644
--- a/pkg/api/cloudwatch/cloudwatch.go
+++ b/pkg/api/cloudwatch/cloudwatch.go
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ func init() {
 	actionHandlers = map[string]actionHandler{
 		"GetMetricStatistics":     handleGetMetricStatistics,
 		"ListMetrics":             handleListMetrics,
+		"DescribeAlarms":          handleDescribeAlarms,
 		"DescribeAlarmsForMetric": handleDescribeAlarmsForMetric,
 		"DescribeAlarmHistory":    handleDescribeAlarmHistory,
 		"DescribeInstances":       handleDescribeInstances,
@@ -142,6 +143,57 @@ func handleListMetrics(req *cwRequest, c *middleware.Context) {
 	c.JSON(200, resp)
 }
 
+func handleDescribeAlarms(req *cwRequest, c *middleware.Context) {
+	sess := session.New()
+	creds := credentials.NewChainCredentials(
+		[]credentials.Provider{
+			&credentials.EnvProvider{},
+			&credentials.SharedCredentialsProvider{Filename: "", Profile: req.DataSource.Database},
+			&ec2rolecreds.EC2RoleProvider{Client: ec2metadata.New(sess), ExpiryWindow: 5 * time.Minute},
+		})
+
+	cfg := &aws.Config{
+		Region:      aws.String(req.Region),
+		Credentials: creds,
+	}
+
+	svc := cloudwatch.New(session.New(cfg), cfg)
+
+	reqParam := &struct {
+		Parameters struct {
+			ActionPrefix    string    `json:"actionPrefix"`
+			AlarmNamePrefix string    `json:"alarmNamePrefix"`
+			AlarmNames      []*string `json:"alarmNames"`
+			StateValue      string    `json:"stateValue"`
+		} `json:"parameters"`
+	}{}
+	json.Unmarshal(req.Body, reqParam)
+
+	params := &cloudwatch.DescribeAlarmsInput{
+		MaxRecords: aws.Int64(100),
+	}
+	if reqParam.Parameters.ActionPrefix != "" {
+		params.ActionPrefix = aws.String(reqParam.Parameters.ActionPrefix)
+	}
+	if reqParam.Parameters.AlarmNamePrefix != "" {
+		params.AlarmNamePrefix = aws.String(reqParam.Parameters.AlarmNamePrefix)
+	}
+	if len(reqParam.Parameters.AlarmNames) != 0 {
+		params.AlarmNames = reqParam.Parameters.AlarmNames
+	}
+	if reqParam.Parameters.StateValue != "" {
+		params.StateValue = aws.String(reqParam.Parameters.StateValue)
+	}
+
+	resp, err := svc.DescribeAlarms(params)
+	if err != nil {
+		c.JsonApiErr(500, "Unable to call AWS API", err)
+		return
+	}
+
+	c.JSON(200, resp)
+}
+
 func handleDescribeAlarmsForMetric(req *cwRequest, c *middleware.Context) {
 	cfg := &aws.Config{
 		Region:      aws.String(req.Region),
diff --git a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/datasource.js b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/datasource.js
index 119c4a83167..ab97e4eedd5 100644
--- a/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/datasource.js
+++ b/public/app/plugins/datasource/cloudwatch/datasource.js
@@ -204,6 +204,14 @@ function (angular, _, moment, dateMath) {
       return $q.when([]);
     };
 
+    this.performDescribeAlarms = function(region, actionPrefix, alarmNamePrefix, alarmNames, stateValue) {
+      return this.awsRequest({
+        region: region,
+        action: 'DescribeAlarms',
+        parameters: { actionPrefix: actionPrefix, alarmNamePrefix: alarmNamePrefix, alarmNames: alarmNames, stateValue: stateValue }
+      });
+    };
+
     this.performDescribeAlarmsForMetric = function(region, namespace, metricName, dimensions, statistic, period) {
       return this.awsRequest({
         region: region,