Location-Based & County-Based Weather Notifications

Location-based National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) auto-notifications and County-based weather notifications are similar, but there are some distinct differences between these two weather-alerting methods. This article will describe location-based and county-based weather notifications so that you can decide which works best for your circumstances.

Location-Based NOAA Auto-Notifications

Location-based NOAA auto-notifications are alerts that are only issued to a public contact if they have opted to receive them and the location provided on their profile is within the alerting area designated by NOAA/National Weather Service.

A Public Subscriber has to choose which alerts they wish to receive. The top list of available alerts is only sent through SMTP (Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) and/or email (the method used depends on the contact information provided upon sign-up). There is a limited list of options to receive calls for warnings only. Messages are not translated per the public subscriber’s language selections.

Example: Sedgwick County, Kansas Public Alerts Sign-Up Page

Setup

Location-based NOAA Auto-Notifications are tied to Sign-Up page options and can only be modified by Support or Implementation. To set up or make changes to your organization's location-based notifications, contact Support or reach out to your Customer Success Manager.

View Public Signup Weather Preferences

A public contact's weather notification preferences are accessible from the View Public Signup Weather Preferences link in the upper right corner of their Public Contact Profile.

The page that opens will show the location-based alerts the contact is subscribed to and the alerts they have received.

Instructions

1. Sign in to the system if you have not already
2. Navigate to Resources then select Manage Directories
   
3. Select Public Contacts under Public Directory
   
4. Locate and select the desired user
   
5. Click View Public Signup Weather Preferences
   
6. Scroll down to view the location-based alerts the contact is subscribed to and the alerts they have received

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County-Based Weather Notifications

County-based weather notifications are alerts sent to subscribers of a group if the alert is issued anywhere in the county. These notifications are texts sent using true SMS (Short Message Service), and they are translated according to public subscribers' preferences.

County-based weather notifications can be set up through Integrations.

Phenomena

The following list of weather phenomena can be set up for County-based weather notifications:

Setup

The County-Based weather notifications setup process can be completed by users with permission to create groups and alert templates.

1. Create the group(s) that the public will sign up for
   • County-based weather notification groups for the public to opt into can be set up in the following ways:
     • Separate groups for separate types of alerts
       • Tornado Warnings
       • Tornado Watches
       • Example: Maui County, Hawaii Public Alerts Sign-Up Page
     • Tornado Alerts
       • Both watches and warnings could be associated with this group
     • A Severe Weather Alerts group
       • Several weather alerts could be associated with this group (such as Hurricane Warnings and Tornado Warnings)
       • Example: Pflugerville, Texas Public Alerts Sign-Up Page
2. Set up the placeholder Alert Template(s)
3. Set the delivery methods, groups, and other specifics for the alert(s)
4. Associate the desired Alert Template(s) with the necessary Integrations

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Resources

• Add a Public Group
• Create an Alert Template (Send Alert form)
• Add a Social Media Account

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