You would never live in a house without a smoke detector, right?
Why should weather alerting be any different?
Severe weather watches and warnings have been disseminated via NOAA weather radio, commercial radio, and television for years. Yet, with smart phones galore, the best modern way to inform people quickly of pending severe weather is via text messaging. My goal with this service is to send you a text message when your specified location is found to be inside a National Weather Service tornado/severe thunderstorm watch or warning polygon. I have designed the alerting system to be lightweight and extremely fast, ensuring that you get the message as quickly as possible. Alerts are available for anyone living in the United States.
What can I get alerted for?
You can choose at signup to be alerted for any/all of the following:
- Severe Thunderstorm Watch
- Severe Thunderstorm Warning
- Tornado Watch
- Tornado Warning
- Winter Storm Watch
- Winter Storm Warning
- Blizzard Warning
- Ice Storm Warning
What’s the difference between a watch and a warning?
Doesn’t my phone already go off for warnings? Why would I want this service?
If you have a capable device, your phone will alert you via Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) for flash flood warnings, amber alerts, and tornado warnings only. However, they are based on your cellular GPS location and may not be 100% accurate (or timely!). WEA does not disseminate severe thunderstorm warnings or any watches.
This service does not use your cellular GPS. Instead, you specify the static locations you would like to be alerted for and you can be assured that you will get the message 100% of the time, as long as you have cellular service!
Not so fine print:
1) Your personal information will not used for any other purpose other than to alert you via text message.
2) This service does not use your current location via cellular GPS. Instead, it will only alert you for the static location(s) that you provide during signup.
3) Additions or modifications to this alerting service will be communicated via e-mail to users.
4) These alerts should supplement, not replace, other forms of official communication (e.g., NOAA weather radio). The key to severe weather messaging is to have redundant ways to receive alerts.
5) The cost for this service is $9.99 per year. The $9.99 per year cost is used to offset expenses associated with the cloud computing and text messaging platforms. Additional SMS fees may be incurred if your cellular carrier and/or wireless plan charges per text message.
6) Your yearly subscription allows for the alerting of two locations per one cell number. Contact us if you would like to inquire about the cost for more than two locations. You can change your location(s) at any time by sending us a message.
7) If you sign up and do not want the service anymore, you can cancel your subscription at any time, no questions asked.
8) This service is not responsible for your decision making during severe weather events.