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Weather Belt Documentation

Weather Belt Guide

A practical guide to Weather Belt's weather context, preparedness tools, and official-alert playbooks.

Getting startedAlerts and mapReadiness CenterEvent PlaybooksWeather RadioTool BeltWeather StationsLinks and connectionsPrivacy and limitsBack to Weather Belt

Getting started

Allow location access if you want Weather Belt to center the map, identify nearby weather-radio information, and keep local official alerts relevant. You can change that access in iPhone Settings at any time.

  • Open Home for local conditions and the current alert picture.
  • Open Map for radar and available public-source layers.
  • Open More -> Tool Belt for readiness tools and field references.
  • Use Settings to review source information and personal connections.

Official alerts and the map

Weather Belt presents official NWS watches, warnings, advisories, and their instructions. Map layers provide timely context around those official products.

  • Use the radar timeline to review available NOAA MRMS radar frames.
  • Turn available layers on and off from the Layers control. Source credits are available in the app.
  • Available public-source context can include SPC outlooks, tropical systems, lightning density, USGS seismic activity and river observations, FAA METAR, NDBC marine buoys, and NASA FIRMS wildfire hotspots.
  • Always follow official NWS and local emergency-management instructions first.

Readiness Center

The Readiness Center keeps a personal readiness plan on your device. It helps you prepare before an event and puts the important pieces first when an official local alert is active.

  • Add emergency contacts, a meeting place, weather-radio information, a go-bag, backup-power plans, and medication needs.
  • Check items off as you prepare. Your readiness score reflects only the information you choose to enter.
  • Add a private recovery note for later reference.
  • Use Emergency Handoff to share an update through your device's share sheet. It can include current official status, readiness progress, and your recovery note.

Readiness Center records are kept on your device.

Event Playbooks

Event Playbooks are preparation guides that appear only when Weather Belt has an active official NWS alert to anchor them. Find them in More -> Tool Belt.

  • Choose the active alert to see its official title and instruction.
  • Read the separate Weather Belt Preparation steps for tornado, flood, heat, winter, or general weather events.
  • Use the checklist to prepare your household, then return to the official alert for updates.

Playbooks do not issue warnings, predict emergencies, or provide evacuation orders.

Weather Radio

Weather Belt helps you find and use your local NOAA Weather Radio (NWR) transmitter. It supports a dedicated weather radio and responsible external listening choices.

  • Review the local station's name, frequency, SAME code, and transmitter status.
  • Use the displayed frequency and SAME code to program a compatible weather radio.
  • Select Listen in Broadcastify to open Broadcastify externally. Its account, licensing, and playback terms apply there.
  • A personal authorized stream is only for a URL you own or have explicit rights to use. Weather Belt does not suggest, catalog, test, proxy, or automatically switch third-party streams.

Tool Belt

Open More -> Tool Belt for practical utility screens that support planning and field awareness.

  • Compass and Coordinates help you orient yourself and share a location.
  • Thermal Calculator and Lightning Distance run focused weather calculations using the values you enter.
  • River Gauges and Go-Bag provide water-level context and a practical packing reference.
  • Shelter in Place and Triage Templates provide clear preparation guidance and structured messages.
  • Incident Journal keeps private notes for personal records and recovery planning.

Weather Stations

Open More → Resource Center → Weather Stations, or the Weather Stations shortcut in More. You can explore public observations, connect a supported personal station, search the worldwide directory, or try the simulator. Updated September 13, 2026.

What do the map colors mean?

  • Gray — station information only. Tap for the station name, identifier, coordinates and available elevation. A directory entry does not supply current weather readings or prove that the station is still reporting.
  • Green — public weather observations. Tap for available NWS readings and the observation time. You do not need to own a weather station, enter a station URL, or provide provider credentials.
  • Blue — your connected station. A supported provider account must return the station and valid coordinates before a blue marker appears. A connected station without coordinates can still appear under My weather station.

View public weather without owning hardware

  1. Choose your active location in My Locations.
  2. Open Weather Stations → Open Station Map.
  3. If the worldwide directory is displayed, tap Show public observations.
  4. Tap Find public stations for this location. This sends the selected coordinates directly to the U.S. National Weather Service.
  5. Tap a green marker or View Station to see available observations.

Public observation coverage is limited to NWS-supported areas. The worldwide directory is a separate, offline collection of station information. It shows up to 50 closest matches and can be searched by station name, country code or ID. Directory search works offline; map tiles need a connection. Gray markers appear without authorizing personal hardware.

Connect a personal weather station

  1. Choose Connect Station, then Davis WeatherLink or Ambient Weather.
  2. For Davis, enter your WeatherLink v2 API key and API secret. For Ambient, enter your account device API key and application key.
  3. Connect only an account and station you own or are authorized to access. Weather Belt lists the stations returned by that account.
  4. Open your station to read its observations. Its blue marker appears on the station map when the provider supplies valid coordinates.
  5. Use Disconnect to remove that account connection and its saved observations.

Credentials are stored securely on this device after account access succeeds. Provider subscriptions can affect access and reporting frequency. Only providers available in this release appear as connection choices.

Does entering a URL add a station to the map?

No. A website URL saved in Resource Center is a link you can open. An authorized HTTPS endpoint saved in Personal Data Connection is for reference only. Neither connects a weather feed, creates a map marker, or turns a gray directory marker into a connected station.

Reading times, missing sensors and testing

  • Readings describe conditions at the station, which can differ from conditions where you are. Always check the observation time.
  • Readings older than 30 minutes are labeled stale. Missing sensors show Unavailable; zero is a valid reading. Display follows your metric or imperial unit preference.
  • Use Refresh observation to request an update. Refresh is limited to once per minute; a refresh does not guarantee a newer report from the provider.
  • Station Simulator requires no account or hardware. Explore normal weather, storms, a frontal passage, heat, winter, stale data, low battery, missing sensors and a connection timeout. Replay compresses two hours into twelve seconds.
  • Simulated data never enters weather forecasts, alert notifications or the station map. The optional Davis demonstration station still needs WeatherLink credentials and is also excluded from the map.

Directory metadata: Meteostat contributors, CC BY 4.0. The September 13, 2026 snapshot contains 15,931 entries, reduced to station names, identifiers and locations. Directory membership does not grant access to weather observations.

Resource links and personal data connections

Resource Center lets you save trusted provider websites to open. The separate Personal Data Connection area lets you save an authorized HTTPS endpoint locally for reference. These are different from the supported account connections in Weather Stations.

  • Only save endpoints you own or are authorized to use.
  • Saving a URL does not validate the service, activate a weather feed, or create a station map marker.
  • Use Weather Stations → Connect Station for supported personal hardware accounts. Those credentials are kept in secure device storage.
  • Check the provider's terms and documentation before using it.

Privacy, sources, and important limits

Weather Belt is a situational-awareness and preparedness tool. It uses public and institutional sources where available, including NOAA/NWS, USGS, FAA, NDBC, NASA FIRMS, and OpenStreetMap-based map data.

  • Your readiness items, notes, and personal connection information are stored locally on your device.
  • Live map and alert data require a network connection to refresh.
  • Weather Belt cannot replace official alerts, local emergency management, a dedicated weather radio, or emergency services.
  • For immediate danger, follow official instructions and call emergency services when appropriate.