Topic

How to identify missing weather alerts.

Questions answered:

• I received a cancellation alert for a weather advisory, but why didn't I receive the initial alert?
• How do I make sure I am notified of weather alerts when the notification areas are changed?

Description

Make sure to include the Extension in Area event condition in your weather alert thresholds if you wish to send alerts when an advisory is updated to include new areas.

Weather advisories can be issued as New without including your area, then Extended to include your area, and finally Cancelled when the event is over.  Each individual event condition includes a definition of the affected area, so your thresholds should be configured accordingly.

If you suspect that a severe weather alert should be sent from your org or if you want to review alerts outside of Everbridge, visit the website of the National Weather Service (NWS): http://www.weather.gov

• Choose Active Alerts to see options for finding current weather alerts.
• Enter your ZIP code in the upper-left for location-specific information.

Please note that the "Upgraded" event condition means "existing warning cancelled in favor of a higher priority message" (it's an upgrade not an update).  If needed, you can also look up the details of weather advisories using a third party system from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet (IEM) called the VTEC Browser: http://mesonet.agron.iastate.edu/vtec/search.php.  Find the raw alert data by following these steps:

1. Use section 1 of the search tool to Search for Storm Based Warnings by Point:
   1. Drag the pin to the desired area of the map.
   2. The "SBW Events" list to the right should load a list of storm warnings.
   3. Continue to step #3 below to proceed with these results, or continue to step #2 to use a different search method.
2. Use section 2 of the search tool to Search for NWS Watch/Warning/Advisories Products by County/Zone:
   1. Select the State or other geographical area from the first drop-down menu.
   2. Select the County/Zone from the second drop-down menu.
   3. Set the date range to filter the selected watch/warning/advisories list. Broader date ranges return more accurate results.
   4. Choose the Load Grid with Settings Above button.
   5. The "Events Listing" list to the right should load a list of events.
3. From the list of weather events, you can choose the Export to Excel button to save an XML copy of your search results.
4. Also from the list of weather events, click on the Event ID (first column) to load the event into the VTEC Browser.
5. Choose the Text Data tab from the top of the page.
6. Navigate through the different sub-tabs to view each individual event, such as the Issuance (for "New" alerts), and the subsequent Updates (potentially for "Extension in Area" alerts).  In the example shown here, the affected area was updated several times.