How this service works
Methodology
Weather Alert Watch is an automated publisher of official-source alert pages. These rules prevent stale, test, duplicate, and over-interpreted content.
Source and publication gate
We collect the NWS active alerts endpoint every five minutes. A public lifecycle must have CAP status Actual, scope Public, and message type Alert, Update, or Cancel. Test and exercise messages remain diagnostic only.
One page per official lifecycle
Updates are joined only through official CAP references or VTEC identifiers. We do not merge records because titles look similar. Each accepted lifecycle receives one stable URL and retains its official revisions.
Ordering without a custom risk score
Lists place active records first, then use the official CAP severity, urgency, certainty, and effective time fields. Alert counts describe products and must not be read as personal risk.
Ended-page policy
An ended alert page returns normally for 30 days. It can be indexed for the first seven days, then uses noindex,follow through day 30. After day 30 the URL returns HTTP 410 and is removed from the sitemap.
Freshness and failure behavior
Data is fresh when the last successful collection is no more than 10 minutes old, delayed from more than 10 through 30 minutes, and unavailable after 30 minutes. A failed fetch is recorded but never ends an alert. When unavailable, pages do not claim there are no alerts.
Location checks
Location access begins only after a visitor clicks the check button. Coordinates are sent in a POST body, used in memory, and not stored in the database, application logs, analytics, page markup, or advertising events. “Affects your location” requires containment in official alert geometry or verified NWS zone geometry. “Nearby” means the point is within 80 km of a geometry bounding edge; it is approximate, labeled separately, and never treated as a match.
Source-grounded summaries and guides
Alert text can be reordered, shortened, and labeled for scanning, but the service does not invent an affected area, forecast, or safety step. Hazard guides cite official NWS sources and carry a review date. Live bulletins always control.
Corrections
If a source record changes, the next official update becomes the current revision while earlier revisions remain in the lifecycle history. To report a display, matching, or guide error, use the contact page and include the page URL.
Contact Weather Alert Watch