$twcweather.alerts
As of November 3rd, we have been unable to locate an official document listing the weather alerts available to SmartThings, with complete syntax and responses. Since most of us would rather not have to wait for that documentation to start programming, a bunch of us have been gathering data the old fashioned way, and combining our findings on this page.
If you see a unique alert for your location, please contribute your observations in this thread, and I will keep the wiki updated.
If you are interested in standard weather data that is not an alert, try: TWC Weather.
Contents
Introduction
Everything on this page focuses on $twcweather.alerts. This query will usually return [] unless there is an alert for your location. When that happens, up to 62 different dataPoints may be returned. Every one of them begins with $twcweather.alerts followed by a period, and ending with the dataPoint listed below. (such as: $twcweather.alerts.eventDescription) There are a couple of tables below that got a bit crowded, so some of them will not list the beginning portion, but it is important to remember that every single command on this page begins with $twcweather.alerts.
Accessing the data
It is unfortunate, but a weather alert cannot be used as a trigger. To get alerts for your area, you can program a piston to periodically make a query. (mine is set to run every 15 minutes, but other triggers can work as well, such as right before you go to work) Please program strategically so we don't hammer the weather server too frequently. Any more often than 4 times an hour is a waste of resources and pointless for alerts. We don't want to encourage SmartThings to start charging us for this data. (since they are billed for each query)
Anyways, for the most part, the "unknown dataPoints" are listed first, so they get the most exposure & hopefully more contributions. These will be followed by the dataPoints that are likely the most useful. The final category will be the dataPoints that are probably the least useful.
.
Needs More Information Gathered
We really need more data responses for this section. Please add any unique observations to this thread.
Unknown dataPoints
| Expression | Sample value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
$twcweather.alerts.areaTypeCode
|
"Z", "C", "CLC"
|
Returns "Z" 80% of the time |
$twcweather.alerts.categories.category
|
"Met", "Other"
|
Meteorology?? |
$twcweather.alerts.categories.categoryCode
|
"2", "12"
|
?? |
$twcweather.alerts.disclaimer
|
null
|
?? |
$twcweather.alerts.eventTrackingNumber
|
0003
|
?? |
Flood
The dataPoint $twcweather.alerts.flood is usually null, but when there is an alert for possible flooding, then these extra dataPoints may appear:
| Expression | Sample value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
$twcweather.alerts.flood.floodCrestTimeLocal
|
null
|
?? |
$twcweather.alerts.flood.floodCrestTimeLocalTimeZone
|
null
|
?? |
$twcweather.alerts.flood.floodEndTimeLocal
|
null
|
?? |
$twcweather.alerts.flood.floodEndTimeLocalTimeZone
|
null
|
?? |
$twcweather.alerts.flood.floodImmediateCause
|
"Excessive Rainfall"
|
Needs more examples |
$twcweather.alerts.flood.floodImmediateCauseCode
|
"ER"
|
Needs more examples |
$twcweather.alerts.flood.floodLocationId
|
00000, AFBI2
|
?? |
$twcweather.alerts.flood.floodLocationName
|
"N/A", "White River at Apache Tailwater"
|
?? |
$twcweather.alerts.flood.floodRecordStatus
|
"N/A"
|
?? |
$twcweather.alerts.flood.floodRecordStatusCode
|
"OO"
|
?? |
$twcweather.alerts.flood.floodSeverity
|
"N/A", "None"
|
?? |
$twcweather.alerts.flood.floodSeverityCode
|
"N", "0"
|
?? |
$twcweather.alerts.flood.floodStartTimeLocal
|
null
|
?? |
$twcweather.alerts.flood.floodStartTimeLocalTimeZone
|
null
|
?? |
.
Important & Useful
Most of our coding will likely use the data found in this section.
If you discovery any data not listed here, please let us know here.
Alerts
It appears that these next 5 dataPoints are mostly connected, so this table is shown a bit differently than the above tables.
To conserve space, the first three columns are marked with numbers that align with:
- phenomena
- productIdentifier
- eventTrackingNumber
Each dataPoint below must begin with $twcweather.alerts. (Such as: $twcweather.alerts.phenomena)
|
| 1 | 2 | 3 | eventDescription | headlineText | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
TAW
|
AWW
|
0000
|
Airport Weather Warning
|
Airport Weather Warning until FRI 2:15 PM CDT
|
|
TAQ
|
AQA
|
0000
|
Air Quality Alert
|
Air Quality Alert until THU 11:00 PM EDT
|
|
BH
|
CFW
|
0014
|
Beach Hazard Statement
|
Beach Hazard Statement from SAT 10:00 AM EDT until SAT 10:00 PM EDT
|
|
TCA
|
CAE
|
0000
|
Child Abduction Emergency
|
Child Abduction Emergency until FRI 9:59 PM EDT
|
|
TCE
|
CEM
|
0000
|
Civil Emergency Message
|
Civil Emergency Message until WED 7:15 PM EDT
|
|
CF
|
CFW
|
0024
|
Coastal Flood Statement
|
Coastal Flood Statement from FRI 8:00 PM EDT until SAT 12:00 AM EDT
|
|
FG
|
NPW
|
0003
|
Dense Fog Advisory
|
Dense Fog Advisory from SAT 5:40 AM EDT until SAT 10:00 AM EDT
|
|
FF
|
FFW
|
0076
|
Flash Flood Warning
|
Flash Flood Warning from WED 7:47 PM CDT until WED 11:45 PM CDT
|
|
FF
|
FFA
|
1, 0015
|
Flash Flood Watch
|
Flash Flood Watch until WED 9:00 PM AST
|
|
FA
|
FLS
|
0156, 0169
|
Flood Advisory
|
Flood Advisory from THU 5:21 PM EDT until THU 7:15 PM EDT
|
|
FZ
|
NPW
|
0003
|
Freeze Warning
|
Freeze Warning from FRI 2:00 AM EDT until FRI 10:00 AM EDT
|
|
FR
|
NPW
|
0003
|
Frost Advisory
|
Frost Advisory until FRI 9:00 AM EDT
|
|
HT
|
NPW
|
0003
|
Heat Advisory
|
Heat Advisory from TUE 10:00 AM EDT until TUE 9:00 PM EDT
|
|
HW
|
NPW
|
0002
|
High Wind Warning
|
High Wind Warning from THU 3:09 PM EDT until FRI 6:00 AM EDT
|
|
MA
|
MWS
|
1
|
Marine Weather Statement
|
Marine Weather Statement until TUE 2:30 PM AST
|
|
RP
|
CFW
|
0008
|
Rip Tide Statement
|
Rip Tide Statement from WED 6:00 AM EDT until WED 9:00 PM EDT
|
|
FL
|
FLS
|
0065
|
River Flood Advisory
|
River Flood Advisory until SUN 7:00 AM CDT
|
|
SV
|
SVR, SVS
|
0106, 0333
|
Severe Thunderstorm Warning
|
Severe Thunderstorm Warning from WED 6:14 PM CDT until WED 6:45 PM CDT
|
|
SV
|
WCN
|
0547
|
Severe Thunderstorm Watch
|
Severe Thunderstorm Watch until WED 9:00 PM EDT
|
US |
thunderstorm
|
ECA
|
0000
|
Severe Thunderstorm Watch
|
Severe Thunderstorm Watch is in effect
|
Canada |
TSG
|
SPS
|
0000
|
Significant Weather Advisory
|
Significant Weather Advisory until FRI 4:15 PM EDT
|
|
SC
|
MWW
|
0093
|
Small Craft Advisory
|
Small Craft Advisory from FRI 12:00 PM EDT until FRI 8:00 PM EDT
|
|
TSL
|
SPS
|
0000
|
Special Weather Statement
|
Special Weather Statement until SUN 9:00 AM CDT
|
|
TR
|
TCV
|
1005
|
Tropical Storm Watch
|
Tropical Storm Watch is in effect
|
|
TTP
|
HLS
|
0000
|
Tropical Weather Statement
|
Tropical Weather Statement until TUE 4:15 AM AST
|
(the known "Sample values" are shown in the grey boxes above)
Descriptions
It appears that the following dataPoints are paired up, so this table is shown a bit differently than the above tables.
Each dataPoint below must begin with $twcweather.alerts. (Such as: $twcweather.alerts.certaintyCode)
|
| certaintyCode | certainty | Notes |
|---|---|---|
1
|
Observed
|
|
2
|
Likely
|
|
3
|
Possible
|
|
4?
|
??
|
?? |
5
|
Unknown
|
|
| messageTypeCode | messageType | Notes |
1
|
New
|
|
2
|
Update
|
|
3?
|
??
|
?? |
| responseTypes.responseTypeCode | responseTypes.responseType | Notes |
1
|
Shelter
|
|
2?
|
??
|
?? |
3
|
Prepare
|
|
4
|
Execute
|
|
5
|
Avoid
|
|
6
|
Monitor
|
|
| severityCode | severity | Notes |
1?
|
??
|
?? |
2
|
Severe
|
|
3
|
Moderate
|
|
4
|
Minor
|
|
5?
|
??
|
?? |
| urgencyCode | urgency | Notes |
1
|
Immediate
|
|
2
|
Expected
|
|
3
|
Future
|
|
4?
|
??
|
?? |
5
|
Unknown
|
(the known "Sample values" are shown in the grey boxes above)
Significance
The code $twcweather.alerts.significance returns a single letter, as seen in the "Sample value" column below.
The second column contains educated guesses based on the alerts I have seen so far.
| Sample value | Likely? | Seen during |
|---|---|---|
A
|
Watch | Flash Flood Watch, Severe Thunderstorm Watch, Tropical Storm Watch |
L
|
Alert/Emergency | Air Quality Alert, Child Abduction Emergency |
M
|
Message | Civil Emergency Message |
S
|
Statement | Beach Hazard Statement, Coastal Flood Statement, Marine Weather Statement, Rip Tide Statement, Special Weather Statement, Tropical Weather Statement |
W
|
Warning | Airport Weather Warning, Freeze Warning, High Wind Warning, Severe Thunderstorm Warning |
Y
|
Advisory | Dense Fog Advisory, Flood Advisory, Frost Advisory, Heat Advisory, River Flood Advisory, Significant Weather Advisory, Small Craft Advisory |
Times
These seem to be the most helpful times listed.
| Expression | Sample value | Notes | Seems to be... |
|---|---|---|---|
$twcweather.alerts.processTimeUTC
|
1564471315
|
||
$twcweather.alerts.expireTimeUTC
|
1564534800
|
Time the alert expires | |
$twcweather.alerts.issueTimeLocal
|
2019-07-30T03:21:00-04:00
|
Time the alert was posted | |
$twcweather.alerts.expireTimeLocal
|
2019-07-30T21:00:00-04:00
|
Time the alert expires | |
$twcweather.alerts.onsetTimeLocal
|
2019-07-30T10:00:00-04:00
|
Usually returns null. | Time the event is expected to occur |
$twcweather.alerts.effectiveTimeLocal
|
2019-07-30T10:00:00-04:00
|
Usually returns null. | Time the event is expected to occur |
Location
These seem to be the only helpful locations, that may change based on the precise location of the alert.
| Expression | Sample value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
$twcweather.alerts.areaId
|
"NYZ179", "ANZ335"
|
Code for a location where the event occurs |
$twcweather.alerts.areaName
|
"Northern Nassau County",
|
Mixed case location name |
$twcweather.alerts.areaTypeCode
|
"C" = County,
|
Type of location (Usually returns Z) |
.
Not Very Useful
The following dataPoints seem mostly useless, but we are still gathering data.
If any of these dataPoints are found to be helpful, I will relocate it to the appropriate section above.
Times
I suspect these dataPoints will only change twice a year (when we change our clocks).
| Expression | Sample value |
|---|---|
$twcweather.alerts.expireTimeLocalTimeZone
|
EDT
|
$twcweather.alerts.effectiveTimeLocalTimeZone
|
EDT
|
$twcweather.alerts.issueTimeLocalTimeZone
|
EDT
|
$twcweather.alerts.onsetTimeLocalTimeZone
|
EDT, null
|
Locations
I suspect these dataPoints may never change.
| Expression | Sample value |
|---|---|
$twcweather.alerts.adminDistrict
|
"New York", "Alberta"
|
$twcweather.alerts.adminDistrictCode
|
"NY", "AB"
|
$twcweather.alerts.countryCode
|
"US", "CA"
|
$twcweather.alerts.countryName
|
"UNITED STATES OF AMERICA", "CANADA"
|
$twcweather.alerts.ianaTimeZone
|
"America/New_York", "America/Edmonton"
|
$twcweather.alerts.latitude
|
40.01
|
$twcweather.alerts.longitude
|
-75.01
|
$twcweather.alerts.officeAdminDistrict
|
"New York", null
|
$twcweather.alerts.officeAdminDistrictCode
|
"NY"
|
$twcweather.alerts.officeCode
|
"KOKX", "CWTO"
|
$twcweather.alerts.officeCountryCode
|
"US", "CA"
|
$twcweather.alerts.officeName
|
"New York City"
|
$twcweather.alerts.source
|
"National Weather Service", "Meteorological Service of Canada"
|
I am hoping this last one changes occasionally... It'd be nice to see multiple sources merging for important alerts
In the 15 alerts I have seen so far, none of these locations changed between alerts. I think the best way for us to confirm this, is if each of us observes our own alerts. You'll see patterns after a handful of alerts, and can report your findings here. (Please do not share your real longitude & latitude)
Unique dataPoints
Not sure of the relevance here... They change at almost every alert.
| Expression | Sample value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
$twcweather.alerts.detailKey
|
"8db0a39f-2c26-39c9-862b-37f7256f3d45","681e5182-53c2-394e-9440-c4a426680f82"
|
36 characters Might linger if the alerts are similar |
$twcweather.alerts.identifier
|
"f1bac66b482866c05c82fc3462978a17","6e39ac945ef3c7be4593d528be6388d4"
|
32 characters Might linger if the alerts are identical |
.
Conclusion
The data gathering phase is still in progress, so this page will be updated whenever new data is posted to this thread.
I am excited to see what kind of pistons we can create for these weather alerts! Don't forget to share your creations on the forum...
.
Future Projects
I think we also need to monitor $twcweather.alerts.length, because
that dataPoint does not return when querying $twcweather.alerts
This makes me wonder what other hidden dataPoints are available...
Observations
Normally, on a clear day, the responses are usually:
Unfortuunately, it seems that $twcweather.alerts.length will also count nulls.
OR
I have had about 15 of these the past few days. Each time, the weather was only slightly bad. (not worthy of an alert, IMO)
If you'd like to help me understand what $twcweather.alerts.length represents, here is a piston that is ready for import.
.
