$twcweather.alerts
As of August 6th, 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)
Legend
Here is a quick list to show what each color represents on this page...
| Headers for each table |
|---|
| Warnings / Reminders |
Duplicates
|
Code found in a 2016 document that needs to be verified
|
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, and the occasional flood dataPoints. 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.disclaimer
|
null
|
Disclaimer for data |
$twcweather.alerts.eventTrackingNumber
|
0003
|
4 digit number or a checksum |
Unverified dataPoints
The following responses are not returned with $twcweather.alerts, but there is a chance that they exist if a direct query is made. Further testing is required.
| (Unverified) Expression | (Unverified) Sample value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
??.synopsis
|
null
|
(Brief summary) |
??.texts.description
|
"...Flood Warning extended until Monday morning...The Flood Warning\ncontinues for the Guadalupe River Near Bloomington.\n* until Monday morning...or until the warning is cancelled.\n* At 8:00 AM Friday the stage was 25.2 feet.\n* Moderate flooding is occurring and Moderate flooding is forecast.\n* Flood stage is 20.0 feet.\n* Forecast: The river has crested overnight and will continue to fall\nand is expected to go below flood stage by Sunday afternoon.\n* At 26.0 feet Irrigation and oil well pumps, tank batteries, and\nequipment in the lower flood plain below Victoria flood. Livestock\nare cut off, may have to be fed by boat, and could drown. Homes\ndownstream above Highway 35 on the left bank are cut off.\n\n&&\n\nBelow are the latest river stages and stage forecasts:\n\nFLD LATEST FORECAST 6 AM LST\nLOCATION STG STG DAY TIME Sat Sun Mon Tue Wed\n\nGuadalupe River\nBloomington 20 25.2 Fri 08 AM 23.8 21.1 18.7 17.8 17.6\n\n&&\n\n\n" | ?? |
??.texts.instruction
|
null
|
?? |
??.texts.languageCode
|
en-US
|
?? |
??.texts.overview
|
"...The Flood Warning continues for the following river in Texas...\n\nGuadalupe River Near Bloomington affecting Calhoun...Refugio and\nVictoria Counties\n\n.Recent rainfall upstream and over the area will keep the aforementioned\nriver above flood stage for the next few days.\n\nPRECAUTIONARY/PREPAREDNESS ACTIONS...\n\nStay tuned to NOAA Weather Radio, local TV and radio\nstations, or cable TV outlets, for the latest weather\ninformation, as additional rainfall could affect crest\nforecasts.\n\nFor the latest river stages and forecasts visit our AHPS page at:\nhttp://water.weather.gov/ahps2/index.php?wfo=crp\n\n&&\n\n" | ?? |
I recommend testing these commands shortly after you receive a weather alert, and share your findings here.
- $twcweather.alerts.details
- $twcweather.alerts.details.class
- $twcweather.alerts.details.phenomena
- $twcweather.alerts.details.disclaimer
- $twcweather.alerts.details.text
- $twcweather.alerts.details.text.description
- $twcweather.alerts.details.text.instruction
- $twcweather.alerts.details.text.overview
(They should return [] if there is no alert for your area)
These last three (if they work) will be incredibly valuable to our programming…
So far, we have testing (and failed) with:
.
Important and 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(Phenomena code of an event) -
productIdentifier(Refer Inbound PIL/Event Tab) -
eventTrackingNumber(4 digit number or a checksum)
NOTE: No patterns have been seen for eventTrackingNumber yet... What is this number really??
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
|
0002
|
Coastal Flood Advisory
|
Coastal Flood Advisory from SAT 5:00 AM EST until SAT 8:00 AM EST
|
|
CF
|
CFW
|
0024
|
Coastal Flood Statement
|
Coastal Flood Statement from FRI 8:00 PM EDT until SAT 12:00 AM EDT
|
|
CF
|
CFW
|
0001
|
Coastal Flood Warning
|
Coastal Flood Warning from TUE 8:00 PM EDT until WED 1:00 AM EDT
|
|
CF
|
CFW
|
0002
|
Coastal Flood Watch
|
Coastal Flood Watch from TUE 8:00 PM EDT until WED 2:00 AM EDT
|
|
FG, MF
|
MWW, NPW
|
0003, 0007, 0009
|
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, 0001, 0015
|
Flash Flood Watch
|
Flash Flood Watch until WED 9:00 PM AST
|
|
FA
|
FLS
|
0090, 0156, 0169
|
Flood Advisory
|
Flood Advisory from THU 5:21 PM EDT until THU 7:15 PM EDT
|
|
FA
|
FLW
|
0011
|
Flood Warning
|
Flood Warning from THU 9:03 AM EST until THU 3:00 PM EST
|
|
??
|
???
|
0004
|
Flood Watch
|
Flood Watch until TUE 7:00 AM EST
|
Needs more info
|
FZ
|
NPW
|
0003
|
Freeze Warning
|
Freeze Warning from FRI 2:00 AM EDT until FRI 10:00 AM EDT
|
|
FZ
|
NPW
|
0001
|
Freeze Watch
|
Freeze Watch from FRI 12:00 AM EDT until FRI 8:00 AM EDT
|
|
FR
|
NPW
|
0002, 0003
|
Frost Advisory
|
Frost Advisory until FRI 9:00 AM EDT
|
|
GL
|
MWW
|
0024
|
Gale Warning
|
Gale Warning from TUE 10:26 AM EST until WED 6:00 AM EST
|
|
GL
|
MWW
|
0030
|
Gale Watch
|
Gale Watch from WED 6:00 PM EST until THU 6:00 AM EST
|
|
HT
|
NPW
|
0003
|
Heat Advisory
|
Heat Advisory from TUE 10:00 AM EDT until TUE 9:00 PM EDT
|
|
SU
|
CFW
|
0001, 0003
|
High Surf Advisory
|
High Surf Advisory from TUE 8:00 AM EDT until WED 6:00 AM EDT
|
|
HW
|
NPW
|
0002
|
High Wind Warning
|
High Wind Warning from THU 3:09 PM EDT until FRI 6:00 AM EDT
|
|
HW
|
NPW
|
0001
|
High Wind Watch
|
High Wind Watch from SUN 1:00 PM EST until MON 7:00 AM EST
|
|
LW
|
NPW
|
0001
|
Lake Wind Advisory
|
Lake Wind Advisory from SAT 8:58 AM EST until SAT 7:00 PM EST
|
|
MA
|
MWS
|
1
|
Marine Weather Statement
|
Marine Weather Statement until TUE 2:30 PM AST
|
|
FW
|
RFW
|
0001
|
Red Flag Warning
|
Red Flag Warning from SAT 12:00 PM EST until SAT 7:00 PM EST
|
Potential Fire |
RP
|
CFW
|
0008, 0010
|
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
|
|
FL
|
FLS, FLW
|
0016
|
River Flood Warning
|
River Flood Warning until FRI 8:00 PM EDT
|
|
SV
|
SVR, SVS
|
0024, 0030, 0106, 0333
|
Severe Thunderstorm Warning
|
Severe Thunderstorm Warning from WED 6:14 PM CDT until WED 6:45 PM CDT
|
|
SV
|
WCN
|
0094, 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
|
0062, 0093
|
Small Craft Advisory
|
Small Craft Advisory from MON 3:36 PM EDT until TUE 6:00 PM EDT
|
|
MA
|
SMW
|
0005
|
Special Marine Warning
|
Special Marine Warning from TUE 10:34 PM EST until TUE 11:15 PM EST
|
|
TSL
|
SPS
|
0000
|
Special Weather Statement
|
Special Weather Statement until SUN 9:00 AM CDT
|
Is there Alt data for column 1 & 2? |
SR
|
MWW
|
0001
|
Storm Watch
|
Storm Watch from MON 6:00 AM EDT until MON 6:00 PM EDT
|
|
TO
|
TOR
|
0001, 0006
|
Tornado Warning
|
Tornado Warning from TUE 4:35 AM EST until TUE 5:00 AM EST
|
|
TO
|
WCN
|
0015
|
Tornado Watch
|
Tornado Watch until SAT 9:00 PM EST
|
|
TR
|
TCV
|
1006, 1009
|
Tropical Storm Warning
|
Tropical Storm Warning is in effect
|
|
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
|
|
WI
|
NPW
|
0003
|
Wind Advisory
|
Wind Advisory from SAT 10:00 AM EST until SUN 12:00 AM EST
|
|
??
|
???
|
0001
|
Wind Chill Advisory
|
Wind Chill Advisory from TUE 10:00 PM EST until WED 9:00 AM EST
|
Needs more info
|
WW
|
WSW
|
0005, 0025, 0038
|
Winter Weather Advisory
|
Winter Weather Advisory from MON 4:00 PM EST until TUE 7:00 PM EST
|
(the known "Sample values" are shown in the grey boxes above)
phenomena Patterns
Some of the results for phenomena (shown above) aligns with more than one eventDescrition... Here is educated guesses as to their meaning:
| phenomena | Likely? | Seen during |
|---|---|---|
CF
|
Coastal Flood?
|
Coastal Flood Advisory, Coastal Flood Statement, Coastal Flood Warning, Coastal Flood Watch |
FA
|
Flood?
|
Flood Advisory, Flood Warning |
FF
|
Flash Flood?
|
Flash Flood Warning, Flash Flood Watch |
FL
|
River Flood?
|
River Flood Advisory, River Flood Warning |
FZ
|
Freeze?
|
Freeze Warning, Freeze Watch |
GL
|
Gale?
|
Gale Warning, Gale Watch |
HW
|
High Winds?
|
High Wind Warning, High Wind Watch |
MA
|
Marine?
|
Marine Weather Statement, Special Marine Warning |
SV
|
Severe Thunderstorm?
|
Severe Thunderstorm Warning, Severe Thunderstorm Watch |
TO
|
Tornado?
|
Tornado Warning, Tornado Watch |
TR
|
Tropical Storm?
|
Tropical Storm Warning, Tropical Storm Watch |
productIdentifier Patterns
Some of the results for productIdentifier (shown above) aligns with more than one eventDescrition... Here is educated guesses as to their meaning:
| productIdentifier | Likely? | Seen during | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
CFW
|
Coastal Flood Watch/Warning?
|
Beach Hazard Statement, Coastal Flood Advisory, Coastal Flood Statement, Coastal Flood Warning, Coastal Flood Watch, High Surf Advisory, Rip Tide Statement | |
FLS
|
Flood Statement?
|
Flood Advisory, River Flood Advisory, River Flood Warning | RFW needs confirmation |
FLW
|
Flood Warning?
|
Flood Warning, River Flood Warning | RFW needs confirmation |
MWW
|
Marine Weather Watch/Warning?
|
Dense Fog Advisory, Gale Warning, Gale Watch, Small Craft Advisory, Storm Watch | |
NPW
|
Non-Precipitation Warning?
|
Dense Fog Advisory, Freeze Warning, Freeze Watch, Frost Advisory, Heat Advisory, High Wind Warning, High Wind Watch, Lake Wind Advisory, Wind Advisory | |
SPS
|
Special Statement??
|
Significant Weather Advisory, Special Weather Statement | |
TCV
|
Tropical Cyclone??
|
Tropical Storm Warning, Tropical Storm Watch | TCV is estimated by zones, so the warning areas are approximate |
WCN
|
Watch County Notification?
|
Severe Thunderstorm Watch, Tornado Watch |
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
|
Determined to have occurred or to be ongoing |
2
|
Likely
|
Likely (p > ~50%) |
3
|
Possible
|
Possible but not likely (p <= ~50%) |
(Likely never seen) --> 4?
|
Unlikely
|
Not expected to occur (p ~ 0) |
5
|
Unknown
|
Certainty unknown |
| messageTypeCode | messageType | Notes |
1
|
New
|
Initial information |
2
|
Update
|
Updates existing message |
(Likely never seen) --> 3?
|
Cancel
|
Cancels the earlier message |
| responseTypes.responseTypeCode | responseTypes.responseType | Notes |
1
|
Shelter
|
Take shelter in place or per instruction |
(Hopefully never seen) --> 2?
|
Evacuate
|
Relocate as instructed in the instruction |
3
|
Prepare
|
Make preparations per the instruction |
4
|
Execute
|
Execute a pre-planned activity identified in instruction |
5
|
Avoid
|
Avoid the subject event as per the instruction |
6
|
Monitor
|
Attend to information sources as described in instruction |
(Likely never seen) --> 7?
|
Assess
|
Evaluate the information in this message. (This value SHOULD NOT be used in public warning applications.) |
(Likely never seen) --> 8?
|
AllClear
|
The subject event no longer poses a threat or concern and any follow on action is described in <instruction> |
(Likely never seen) --> 9?
|
None
|
No action recommended |
| severityCode | severity | Notes |
1
|
Extreme
|
Extraordinary threat to life or property |
2
|
Severe
|
Significant threat to life or property |
3
|
Moderate
|
Possible threat to life or property |
4
|
Minor
|
Minimal to no known threat to life or property |
5?
|
Unknown
|
Severity unknown |
| urgencyCode | urgency | Notes |
1
|
Immediate
|
Responsive action SHOULD be taken immediately |
2
|
Expected
|
Responsive action SHOULD be taken soon (within next hour) |
3
|
Future
|
Responsive action SHOULD be taken in the near future |
(Likely never seen) --> 4?
|
Past
|
Responsive action is no longer required |
5
|
Unknown
|
Urgency not known |
(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
|
Coastal Flood Watch, Flash Flood Watch, Freeze Watch, Gale Watch, High Wind Watch, Severe Thunderstorm Watch, Storm Watch, Tornado Watch, Tropical Storm Watch |
B
|
Bulletin
|
?? |
E
|
Extreme
|
?? |
L
|
Local Alerts
|
Air Quality Alert, Child Abduction Emergency |
M
|
Message
|
Civil Emergency Message |
O
|
Outlook
|
?? |
R
|
Report
|
?? |
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, Coastal Flood Warning, Flash Flood Warning, Flood Warning, Freeze Warning, Gale Warning, High Wind Warning, Red Flag Warning, River Flood Warning, Severe Thunderstorm Warning, Special Marine Warning, Tornado Warning, Tropical Storm Warning |
Y
|
Advisory
|
Coastal Flood Advisory, Dense Fog Advisory, Flood Advisory, Frost Advisory, Heat Advisory, High Surf Advisory, Lake Wind Advisory, River Flood Advisory, Significant Weather Advisory, Small Craft Advisory, Wind Advisory, Winter Weather Advisory |
Times
These seem to be the most helpful times listed.
| Expression | Sample value | Notes | Seems to be... |
|---|---|---|---|
$twcweather.alerts.processTimeUTC
|
1564471315
|
Valid unix time UTC | Alert process time in SUN |
$twcweather.alerts.expireTimeUTC
|
1564534800
|
Valid Epoch time | Expire date and time in UTC |
$twcweather.alerts.issueTimeLocal
|
2019-07-30T03:21:00-04:00
|
Alert issuance time | |
$twcweather.alerts.expireTimeLocal
|
2019-07-30T21:00:00-04:00
|
Expire date & time of the information in the alert message | |
$twcweather.alerts.onsetTimeLocal
|
2019-07-30T10:00:00-04:00
|
Usually returns null. | Onset date & time of the information in the alert message. (Canada only) |
$twcweather.alerts.effectiveTimeLocal
|
2019-07-30T10:00:00-04:00
|
Usually returns null. | Effective date & time of the information in the alert message |
Location
These seem to be the only helpful locations, that may change based on the precise location of the alert. It likely depends on whether the particular alert is based on county, city, or GPS coords. (I would love it if there was data available to see how large the range of the alert is)
| 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) |
$twcweather.alerts.latitude
|
40.01
|
Centroid latitude of a location where the event occurs |
$twcweather.alerts.longitude
|
-75.01
|
Centroid longitude of a location where the event occurs |
$twcweather.alerts.officeCode
|
"KOKX", "CWTO"
|
Issuing Office code |
$twcweather.alerts.officeName
|
"Nashville", "Knoxville/Tri-Cities"
|
Issuing Office Name |
Category
The category description of the subject event of the alert message.
Each dataPoint below must begin with $twcweather.alerts.categories. (Such as: $twcweather.alerts.categories.categoryCode although $twcweather.alerts.categories[0].categoryCode may work as well)
|
| categoryCode | category | More Details | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
1
|
Geo
|
Geophysical (inc. landslide) | ?? |
2
|
Met
|
Meteorological (inc. flood) | 96% of responses seen |
3
|
Safety
|
General emergency and public safety | ?? |
4
|
Security
|
Law enforcement, military, homeland and local/private security | ?? |
5
|
Rescue
|
Rescue and recovery | ?? |
6
|
Fire
|
Fire suppression and rescue | ?? |
7
|
Health
|
Medical and public health | ?? |
8
|
Env
|
Pollution and other environmental | ?? |
9
|
Transport
|
Public and private transportation | ?? |
10
|
Infra
|
Utility, telecommunication, other non-transport infrastructure | ?? |
11
|
CBRNE
|
Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear or High-Yield Explosive threat or attack | ?? |
12
|
Other
|
Other events | Child Abduction, Civil Emergency |
Edit May 2020 during the pandemic: I am surprised that nobody has shared an alert yet for CBRNE, Health or Safety... Perhaps we are limited to code 2 & 12??
.
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, 2017-10-07T21:30:00-05:00
|
?? |
$twcweather.alerts.flood.floodCrestTimeLocalTimeZone
|
null, EDT
|
?? |
$twcweather.alerts.flood.floodEndTimeLocal
|
null, 2017-10-07T23:30:00-05:00
|
?? |
$twcweather.alerts.flood.floodEndTimeLocalTimeZone
|
null, EDT
|
?? |
$twcweather.alerts.flood.floodLocationId
|
00000, AFBI2
|
Any valid NWS flood location identifier |
$twcweather.alerts.flood.floodLocationName
|
"N/A", "White River at Apache Tailwater"
|
Any valid NWS flood location identifier |
$twcweather.alerts.flood.floodStartTimeLocal
|
null, 2017-10-07T20:30:00-05:00
|
Flood start date time |
$twcweather.alerts.flood.floodStartTimeLocalTimeZone
|
null, EDT
|
Flood start date time zone abbreviation |
floodImmediateCause
When there is an alert for possible flooding, then these extra dataPoints may appear:
Column 1 represents $twcweather.alerts.flood.floodImmediateCauseCode
| 1 | $twcweather.alerts.flood.floodImmediateCause | Notes |
|---|---|---|
ER
|
Excessive Rainfall
|
Only response seen so far |
SM
|
Snowmelt
|
?? |
RS
|
Rain and Snowmelt
|
?? |
DM
|
Dam or Levee Failure
|
?? |
IJ
|
Ice Jam
|
?? |
GO
|
Glacier-Dammed Lake Outburst
|
?? |
IC
|
Rain and/or Snowmelt and/or Ice Jam
|
?? |
FS
|
Upstream Flooding plus Storm Surge
|
?? |
FT
|
Upstream Flooding plus Tidal Effects
|
?? |
ET
|
Elevated Upstream Flow plus Tidal Effects
|
?? |
WT
|
Wind and/or Tidal Effects
|
?? |
DR
|
Upstream Dam or Reservoir Release
|
?? |
MC
|
Other Multiple Causes
|
?? |
OT
|
Other Effects
|
?? |
UU
|
Unknown
|
?? |
floodRecordStatus
When there is an alert for possible flooding, then these extra dataPoints may appear:
Column 1 represents $twcweather.alerts.flood.floodRecordStatusCode
| 1 | $twcweather.alerts.flood.floodRecordStatus | Notes (unconfirmed) |
|---|---|---|
OO
|
N/A
|
For areal flood warnings, areal flash flood products, and flood advisories (point & areal) |
NO
|
A record flood is not expected
|
|
NR
|
?? | Near record or record flood expected
|
UU
|
?? | Flood without a period of record to compare
|
floodSeverity
When there is an alert for possible flooding, then these extra dataPoints may appear:
Column 1 represents $twcweather.alerts.flood.floodSeverityCode
| 1 | $twcweather.alerts.flood.floodSeverity | Notes |
|---|---|---|
N
|
None
|
|
0
|
N/A
|
|
1
|
Minor
|
|
2
|
Moderate
|
?? |
3
|
Major
|
?? |
U
|
Unknown
|
?? |
.
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).
IE: EDT in the Summer becomes EST in the Winter
| Expression | Sample value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
$twcweather.alerts.expireTimeLocalTimeZone
|
EDT
|
Time Zone Abbreviation for expire time |
$twcweather.alerts.effectiveTimeLocalTimeZone
|
EDT
|
Time Zone Abbreviation for effective time |
$twcweather.alerts.issueTimeLocalTimeZone
|
EDT
|
Time Zone Abbreviation for issue time |
$twcweather.alerts.onsetTimeLocalTimeZone
|
EDT, null
|
Time Zone Abbreviation for onset time (Canada only??) |
Locations
It seems like most of these dataPoints do not change very often, if at all.
| Expression | Sample value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
$twcweather.alerts.adminDistrict
|
"New York", "Alberta"
|
|
$twcweather.alerts.adminDistrictCode
|
"NY", "AB"
|
|
$twcweather.alerts.countryCode
|
"US", "CA"
|
country code of the location |
$twcweather.alerts.countryName
|
"UNITED STATES OF AMERICA", "CANADA"
|
|
$twcweather.alerts.ianaTimeZone
|
"America/New_York", "America/Edmonton"
|
|
$twcweather.alerts.officeAdminDistrict
|
"New York", null
|
|
$twcweather.alerts.officeAdminDistrictCode
|
"NY"
|
|
$twcweather.alerts.officeCountryCode
|
"US", "CA"
|
Issuing Office Country Code |
$twcweather.alerts.source
|
"National Weather Service", "Meteorological Service of Canada"
|
Originating source of alert |
I am hoping this last one changes occasionally... It'd be nice to see multiple sources merging for important alerts
In the 100+ 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"
|
Detail record key (36 characters) Might linger if the alerts are similar |
$twcweather.alerts.identifier
|
"f1bac66b482866c05c82fc3462978a17","6e39ac945ef3c7be4593d528be6388d4"
|
Checksum value uniquely identifies a bulletin (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...
Note to self: Check out $twcweather.alerts.synopsis
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.
.
