Charge Your Phone: Weather Apps for Storm Season

First tornado captured by NSSL Doppler radar. Photo Credit: NOAA Photo Library, NOAA Central Library; OAR/ERL/National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL)

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​I live in Tornado Alley. In my city, milestones are marked by April 10, 1979, or Terrible Tuesday, the date a massive tornado struck Wichita Falls. Houses that stood before that date are gone today. Proof of resilience, however, is that some charitable organizations like Interfaith Outreach Services which did not exist before that date continue to serve my city today. Tornado watches and warnings are part of life here.

​You don’t have to live in Tornado Alley to be affected by tornadoes. According to the NOAA, tornadoes have been documented in every state in the United States (and even on every continent except Antarctica) [1]. So no matter where you live, be alert to changing weather conditions and monitor NOAA Weather Radio, commercial radio, or television weather broadcasts [2].

​To monitor weather conditions no matter where you are, charge your phone and fill your weather app folder with these must-have mobile weather apps:
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• A step up from the default weather app that likely came preloaded on your phone, The Weather Channel app is “the world’s most downloaded weather app.” Click on the gear icon and go to My Alerts to choose the weather events you want to know about, such as significant weather, lightning strikes, and even real-time rain (which tells you down to the minute when rain showers are due to begin in your area). Save your favorite cities to quickly check the weather in your special places.
• Your local TV station likely has an app that will keep you up to date with live conditions, warnings, and radar. My local TV weather app is the KFDX 3 Weather app. My local app links to closings and live streams and also includes a link to send in photos and videos.
• The FEMA app allows you to receive National Weather Service alerts for up to 5 locations. My mom lives in Jacksonville, Florida, so I receive alerts for both my hometown and Jacksonville. The app also includes links to all of FEMA’s resources. Check out “Prepare” for a list of what to include in a basic emergency supply kit. The list is interactive, so you can check off items as you stock them.
• The Red Cross Mobile Apps include Tornado, Hurricane, and Flood. You can select locations to be monitored and add contacts from your phone to the places you select. If you have a picture saved for that contact, your contact’s picture will appear on the radar map as you are monitoring an event. Under Prepare, click on “Right Before & During a Tornado” to learn how to recognize tornado danger signs such as (1) dark, often greenish clouds; (2) a wall cloud; (3) large hail; and (4) a roaring noise. Then test your knowledge in the Quizzes tab.
• If you do see rain, hail, or a tornado, do some citizen science and share your reports with the National Severe Storms Laboratory (NSSL) through mPING, a crowdsourcing weather app. The NSSL combines the data collected through mPING with data from NEXRAD to develop new and better algorithms. You can help to create better forecasts and hazardous weather warnings. Before your first real weather report, try out the app by selecting report type “Test” to be sure you can send data.
• I tweeted a picture of my weather folder to the chief meteorologist at my local station, Kevin Selle (@kevinselle) and asked what I was missing. He recommended RadarScope and Weather Radio by WDT. RadarScope is the radar meteorologists use. It lets you view NEXRAD Level 3 and Super-Resolution radar data. It also shows tornado, severe thunderstorm, flash flood warnings, and predicted storm tracks issued by the National Weather Service. Weather Radio by WDT will immediately play an audio alert when a watch or warning is issued in your area.
• NOAA Weather Radio lets you listen to over 200 NOAA Weather Radio all-hazards broadcasts from your mobile phone. The NOAA Weather Radio broadcasts official warnings, watches, forecasts, and other hazard information directly from the nearest National Weather Service office, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
• For Android users, another recommendation I got on Twitter (from Russell Stringfield) is for Pykl3 radar, the highest-rated Android weather app. Pykl3 offers Level 3 radar with tornado, severe thunderstorm, and flash flood warnings plotted right on the map along with your location.
• Which brings us to Twitter. Make a weather list (see my previous post on essential programs and apps for more about Twitter lists) with your local TV weather station and local National Weather Service. My local National Weather Service is @NWSNorman. Follow hashtags with “wx” to keep tabs on weather conversations. In North Texas, the relevant hashtags are #txwx and #okwx.

Download these apps today to be better prepared during storm season.

References
1. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. U.S. Tornado Climatology. NOAA website. https://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/climate-information/extreme-events/us-tornado-climatology. Accessed May 5, 2017.
2. US Department of Homeland Security. Tornadoes. Ready.gov website. https://www.ready.gov/tornadoes. Accessed May 5, 2017.

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