$twcweather.alerts
This page is currently under construction. I would wait a day or two before using the data found below.
As of Aug 4th, I have been unable to locate an official document for the weather alerts, so we have been gathering data the old fashioned way, and combining our findings on this page.
If you get a unique alert in your location, please contribute your observations to this thread.
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 few tables below that got a bit crowded, so some of them will not mention the beginning portion, but it is important to remember that every single command on this page begins with $twcweather.alerts.
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 any other trigger can work as well) Please program strategically so we don't hammer the weather server too frequently. Any more often than 4 times an hour is pointless, and might encourage SmartThings to start charging us for this data. (since they are billed for each query)
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 dataPoints that rarely change.
.
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"
|
Returns "Z" 80% of the time |
$twcweather.alerts.categories.category
|
"Met"
|
Metropolis?? |
$twcweather.alerts.categories.categoryCode
|
"1"
|
?? |
$twcweather.alerts.significance
|
"A", "S", "W", "Y"
|
?? |
$twcweather.alerts.disclaimer
|
null
|
?? |
$twcweather.alerts.eventTrackingNumber
|
0003
|
?? |
$twcweather.alerts.flood
The dataPoint "flood" is usually null, but when there is an alert for possible flooding, then these 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
|
"None"
|
?? |
$twcweather.alerts.flood.floodSeverityCode
|
"N"
|
?? |
$twcweather.alerts.flood.floodStartTimeLocal
|
null
|
?? |
$twcweather.alerts.flood.floodStartTimeLocalTimeZone
|
null
|
?? |
.
Important & Useful
I think most of our coding will be centered around the data found in this section.
Alerts
It appears that these 5 dataPoints are 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 match this:
- phenomena
- productIdentifier
- eventTrackingNumber
 Warning: | Don't forget that each dataPoint must begin with $twcweather.alerts.(Such as: $twcweather.alerts.phenomena) |
.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | eventDescription | headlineText |
|---|---|---|---|---|
CF
|
CFW
|
0024
|
Coastal Flood Statement
|
Coastal Flood Statement from FRI 8:00 PM EDT until SAT 12:00 AM EDT
|
FA
|
FLS
|
0156
|
Flood Advisory
|
Flood Advisory from THU 5:21 PM EDT until THU 7:15 PM EDT
|
FF
|
FFA
|
1
|
Flash Flood Watch
|
Flash Flood Watch until WED 9:00 PM AST
|
FG
|
NPW
|
0003
|
Dense Fog Advisory
|
Dense Fog Advisory from SAT 5:40 AM EDT until SAT 10:00 AM EDT
|
FL
|
FLS
|
0065
|
River Flood Advisory
|
River Flood Advisory until SUN 7:00 AM CDT
|
HT
|
NPW
|
0003
|
Heat Advisory
|
Heat Advisory from TUE 10:00 AM EDT until TUE 9:00 PM EDT
|
SV
|
SVR
|
0106
|
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
|
TAW
|
AWW
|
0000
|
Airport Weather Warning
|
Airport Weather Warning until FRI 2:15 PM CDT
|
TSG
|
SPS
|
0000
|
Significant Weather Advisory
|
Significant Weather Advisory until FRI 4:15 PM EDT
|
Descriptions
It appears that these dataPoints are paired up, so this table is shown a bit differently than the above tables.
| Warning: | 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
|
|
| responseTypes.responseTypeCode | responseTypes.responseType | Notes |
1
|
Shelter
|
|
2?
|
??
|
?? |
3?
|
??
|
?? |
4
|
Execute
|
|
5
|
Avoid
|
|
6
|
Monitor
|
|
| severityCode | severity | Notes |
1?
|
??
|
?? |
2
|
Severe
|
|
3
|
Moderate
|
|
4
|
Minor
|
|
| urgencyCode | urgency | Notes |
1
|
Immediate
|
|
2
|
Expected
|
|
3
|
Future
|
|
4?
|
??
|
?? |
5
|
Unknown
|
Times
These seem to be the most helpful times listed.
| Expression | Sample value | Notes |
|---|---|---|
$twcweather.alerts.issueTimeLocal
|
2019-07-30T03:21:00-04:00
|
|
$twcweather.alerts.expireTimeLocal
|
2019-07-30T21:00:00-04:00
|
|
$twcweather.alerts.onsetTimeLocal
|
2019-07-30T10:00:00-04:00
|
Usually returns null |
$twcweather.alerts.effectiveTimeLocal
|
2019-07-30T10:00:00-04:00
|
Usually returns null |
$twcweather.alerts.processTimeUTC
|
1564471315
|
|
$twcweather.alerts.expireTimeUTC
|
1564534800
|
Location
These seem to be the only helpful locations, that changes based on the location of the alert.
| Expression | Sample value |
|---|---|
$twcweather.alerts.areaId
|
"NYZ179", "ANZ335"
|
$twcweather.alerts.areaName
|
"Southern Nassau County", "Long Island Sound West of New Haven CT/Port Jefferson NY"
|
Not Very Useful
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
|
Locations
I suspect these dataPoints may never change.
| Expression | Sample value |
|---|---|
$twcweather.alerts.adminDistrict
|
New York
|
$twcweather.alerts.adminDistrictCode
|
NY
|
$twcweather.alerts.countryCode
|
US
|
$twcweather.alerts.countryName
|
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
|
$twcweather.alerts.ianaTimeZone
|
America/New_York
|
$twcweather.alerts.latitude
|
40.01
|
$twcweather.alerts.longitude
|
-75.01
|
$twcweather.alerts.officeAdminDistrict
|
New York
|
$twcweather.alerts.officeAdminDistrictCode
|
NY
|
$twcweather.alerts.officeCode
|
KOKX
|
$twcweather.alerts.officeCountryCode
|
US
|
$twcweather.alerts.officeName
|
New York City
|
$twcweather.alerts.source
|
National Weather Service
|
.
