diff --git a/storage/metric/helpers_test.go b/storage/metric/helpers_test.go
index 8be36cdf83..2902bde51f 100644
--- a/storage/metric/helpers_test.go
+++ b/storage/metric/helpers_test.go
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ func buildLevelDBTestPersistence(name string, f func(p MetricPersistence, t test
 func buildMemoryTestPersistence(f func(p MetricPersistence, t test.Tester)) func(t test.Tester) {
 	return func(t test.Tester) {
 
-		p := NewMemorySeriesStorage()
+		p := NewMemorySeriesStorage(MemorySeriesOptions{})
 
 		defer p.Close()
 
diff --git a/storage/metric/interface_test.go b/storage/metric/interface_test.go
index c3979126e0..eb7dd29c98 100644
--- a/storage/metric/interface_test.go
+++ b/storage/metric/interface_test.go
@@ -19,5 +19,5 @@ import (
 
 func TestInterfaceAdherence(t *testing.T) {
 	var _ MetricPersistence = &LevelDBMetricPersistence{}
-	var _ MetricPersistence = NewMemorySeriesStorage()
+	var _ MetricPersistence = NewMemorySeriesStorage(MemorySeriesOptions{})
 }
diff --git a/storage/metric/memory.go b/storage/metric/memory.go
index 15d06764a0..1a4af813d3 100644
--- a/storage/metric/memory.go
+++ b/storage/metric/memory.go
@@ -151,11 +151,18 @@ func newStream(metric model.Metric) *stream {
 type memorySeriesStorage struct {
 	sync.RWMutex
 
+	wmCache                 *WatermarkCache
 	fingerprintToSeries     map[model.Fingerprint]*stream
 	labelPairToFingerprints map[model.LabelPair]model.Fingerprints
 	labelNameToFingerprints map[model.LabelName]model.Fingerprints
 }
 
+type MemorySeriesOptions struct {
+	// If provided, this WatermarkCache will be updated for any samples that are
+	// appended to the memorySeriesStorage.
+	WatermarkCache *WatermarkCache
+}
+
 func (s *memorySeriesStorage) AppendSamples(samples model.Samples) error {
 	for _, sample := range samples {
 		s.AppendSample(sample)
@@ -172,6 +179,10 @@ func (s *memorySeriesStorage) AppendSample(sample model.Sample) error {
 	fingerprint := model.NewFingerprintFromMetric(metric)
 	series, ok := s.fingerprintToSeries[*fingerprint]
 
+	if s.wmCache != nil {
+		s.wmCache.Set(fingerprint, &Watermarks{High: sample.Timestamp})
+	}
+
 	if !ok {
 		series = newStream(metric)
 		s.fingerprintToSeries[*fingerprint] = series
@@ -355,10 +366,11 @@ func (s *memorySeriesStorage) GetAllValuesForLabel(labelName model.LabelName) (v
 	return
 }
 
-func NewMemorySeriesStorage() *memorySeriesStorage {
+func NewMemorySeriesStorage(o MemorySeriesOptions) *memorySeriesStorage {
 	return &memorySeriesStorage{
 		fingerprintToSeries:     make(map[model.Fingerprint]*stream),
 		labelPairToFingerprints: make(map[model.LabelPair]model.Fingerprints),
 		labelNameToFingerprints: make(map[model.LabelName]model.Fingerprints),
+		wmCache:                 o.WatermarkCache,
 	}
 }
diff --git a/storage/metric/memory_test.go b/storage/metric/memory_test.go
index 34514826dc..402c47dd52 100644
--- a/storage/metric/memory_test.go
+++ b/storage/metric/memory_test.go
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ func BenchmarkStreamAdd(b *testing.B) {
 
 func benchmarkAppendSample(b *testing.B, labels int) {
 	b.StopTimer()
-	s := NewMemorySeriesStorage()
+	s := NewMemorySeriesStorage(MemorySeriesOptions{})
 
 	metric := model.Metric{}
 
diff --git a/storage/metric/rule_integration_test.go b/storage/metric/rule_integration_test.go
index bd8655756f..0673c45ba3 100644
--- a/storage/metric/rule_integration_test.go
+++ b/storage/metric/rule_integration_test.go
@@ -896,7 +896,7 @@ func GetRangeValuesTests(persistenceMaker func() (MetricPersistence, test.Closer
 
 func testMemoryGetValueAtTime(t test.Tester) {
 	persistenceMaker := func() (MetricPersistence, test.Closer) {
-		return NewMemorySeriesStorage(), test.NilCloser
+		return NewMemorySeriesStorage(MemorySeriesOptions{}), test.NilCloser
 	}
 
 	GetValueAtTimeTests(persistenceMaker, t)
@@ -924,7 +924,7 @@ func BenchmarkMemoryGetBoundaryValues(b *testing.B) {
 
 func testMemoryGetRangeValues(t test.Tester) {
 	persistenceMaker := func() (MetricPersistence, test.Closer) {
-		return NewMemorySeriesStorage(), test.NilCloser
+		return NewMemorySeriesStorage(MemorySeriesOptions{}), test.NilCloser
 	}
 
 	GetRangeValuesTests(persistenceMaker, false, t)
@@ -932,7 +932,7 @@ func testMemoryGetRangeValues(t test.Tester) {
 
 func testMemoryGetBoundaryValues(t test.Tester) {
 	persistenceMaker := func() (MetricPersistence, test.Closer) {
-		return NewMemorySeriesStorage(), test.NilCloser
+		return NewMemorySeriesStorage(MemorySeriesOptions{}), test.NilCloser
 	}
 
 	GetRangeValuesTests(persistenceMaker, true, t)
diff --git a/storage/metric/stochastic_test.go b/storage/metric/stochastic_test.go
index 666be10cc7..58db623399 100644
--- a/storage/metric/stochastic_test.go
+++ b/storage/metric/stochastic_test.go
@@ -644,7 +644,7 @@ func BenchmarkMemoryAppendSampleAsPureSingleEntityAppend(b *testing.B) {
 
 func testMemoryStochastic(t test.Tester) {
 	persistenceMaker := func() (MetricPersistence, test.Closer) {
-		return NewMemorySeriesStorage(), test.NilCloser
+		return NewMemorySeriesStorage(MemorySeriesOptions{}), test.NilCloser
 	}
 
 	StochasticTests(persistenceMaker, t)
diff --git a/storage/metric/tiered.go b/storage/metric/tiered.go
index 6d8e451878..3f86f4ceea 100644
--- a/storage/metric/tiered.go
+++ b/storage/metric/tiered.go
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@ import (
 	"sort"
 	"time"
 
+	"code.google.com/p/goprotobuf/proto"
+
 	dto "github.com/prometheus/prometheus/model/generated"
 
 	"github.com/prometheus/prometheus/coding"
@@ -62,6 +64,13 @@ const (
 	tieredStorageStopping
 )
 
+const (
+	// Ignore timeseries in queries that are more stale than this limit.
+	stalenessLimit = time.Minute * 5
+	// Size of the watermarks cache (used in determining timeseries freshness).
+	wmCacheSizeBytes = 5 * 1024 * 1024
+)
+
 // TieredStorage both persists samples and generates materialized views for
 // queries.
 type TieredStorage struct {
@@ -85,6 +94,8 @@ type TieredStorage struct {
 
 	memorySemaphore chan bool
 	diskSemaphore   chan bool
+
+	wmCache *WatermarkCache
 }
 
 // viewJob encapsulates a request to extract sample values from the datastore.
@@ -107,17 +118,22 @@ func NewTieredStorage(appendToDiskQueueDepth, viewQueueDepth uint, flushMemoryIn
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
+	wmCache := NewWatermarkCache(wmCacheSizeBytes)
+	memOptions := MemorySeriesOptions{WatermarkCache: wmCache}
+
 	s := &TieredStorage{
 		appendToDiskQueue:   make(chan model.Samples, appendToDiskQueueDepth),
 		DiskStorage:         diskStorage,
 		draining:            make(chan chan<- bool),
 		flushMemoryInterval: flushMemoryInterval,
-		memoryArena:         NewMemorySeriesStorage(),
+		memoryArena:         NewMemorySeriesStorage(memOptions),
 		memoryTTL:           memoryTTL,
 		viewQueue:           make(chan viewJob, viewQueueDepth),
 
 		diskSemaphore:   make(chan bool, tieredDiskSemaphores),
 		memorySemaphore: make(chan bool, tieredMemorySemaphores),
+
+		wmCache: wmCache,
 	}
 
 	for i := 0; i < tieredDiskSemaphores; i++ {
@@ -315,10 +331,38 @@ func (t *TieredStorage) Close() {
 	//            get flushed.
 	close(t.appendToDiskQueue)
 	close(t.viewQueue)
+	t.wmCache.Clear()
 
 	t.state = tieredStorageStopping
 }
 
+func (t *TieredStorage) seriesTooOld(f *model.Fingerprint, i time.Time) (bool, error) {
+	// BUG(julius): Make this configurable by query layer.
+	i = i.Add(-stalenessLimit)
+
+	wm, ok := t.wmCache.Get(f)
+	if !ok {
+		rowKey := coding.NewPBEncoder(f.ToDTO())
+		raw, err := t.DiskStorage.MetricHighWatermarks.Get(rowKey)
+		if err != nil {
+			return false, err
+		}
+		if raw != nil {
+			value := &dto.MetricHighWatermark{}
+			err = proto.Unmarshal(raw, value)
+			if err != nil {
+				return false, err
+			}
+
+			wmTime := time.Unix(*value.Timestamp, 0).UTC()
+			t.wmCache.Set(f, &Watermarks{High: wmTime})
+			return wmTime.Before(i), nil
+		}
+		return true, nil
+	}
+	return wm.High.Before(i), nil
+}
+
 func (t *TieredStorage) renderView(viewJob viewJob) {
 	// Telemetry.
 	var err error
@@ -342,6 +386,15 @@ func (t *TieredStorage) renderView(viewJob viewJob) {
 
 	extractionTimer := viewJob.stats.GetTimer(stats.ViewDataExtractionTime).Start()
 	for _, scanJob := range scans {
+		old, err := t.seriesTooOld(scanJob.fingerprint, *scanJob.operations[0].CurrentTime())
+		if err != nil {
+			log.Printf("Error getting watermark from cache for %s: %s", scanJob.fingerprint, err)
+			continue
+		}
+		if old {
+			continue
+		}
+
 		var seriesFrontier *seriesFrontier = nil
 		var seriesPresent = true
 
diff --git a/storage/metric/view.go b/storage/metric/view.go
index 1330e6eac9..93fc45d9c7 100644
--- a/storage/metric/view.go
+++ b/storage/metric/view.go
@@ -110,5 +110,5 @@ func (v view) appendSamples(fingerprint *model.Fingerprint, samples model.Values
 }
 
 func newView() view {
-	return view{NewMemorySeriesStorage()}
+	return view{NewMemorySeriesStorage(MemorySeriesOptions{})}
 }