An apparatus comprises an implantable impedance sensing circuit configured to sense an atrial impedance signal when coupled to a plurality of implantable electrodes, and an impedance signal analyzer circuit configured to detect a sudden change in a characteristic of the sensed atrial impedance signal that indicates atrial tachyarrhythmia. The impedance signal analyzer circuit classifies the atrial tachyarrhythmia indication as ST when the detected sudden change satisfies an ST threshold value of the characteristic, classifies the atrial tachyarrhythmia indication as AT when the detected sudden change satisfies an AT threshold value of the characteristic that is different from the ST threshold value, classifies the atrial tachyarrhythmia indication as AF when the detected sudden change satisfies an AF threshold value of the characteristic that is different from the ST and AT amplitude threshold values, and provides a classification of the tachyarrhythmia to a user or process.