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 SMS (Short Message Service) 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 Weather Preferences tab 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
Sign in to the system if you have not already
Navigate to Resources then select Manage Directories
Select Public Contacts under Public Directory
Locate and select the desired user
Select the Weather Preferences tab
Scroll down to view the location-based alerts the contact is subscribed to
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.
Note:
County-based alerts will not be distributed using call.
Phenomena
The following list of weather phenomena can be set up for County-based weather notifications:
Air Stagnation
Blizzard
Child Abduction
Coastal
Dust Storm
Fire Warning
Flood
Fog
Frost
High Wind
Hurricane
Nuclear
Severe Thunderstorm
Special Marine
Tornado
Tropical Storm
Tsunami
Winter Storm
Setup
The County-Based weather notifications setup process can be completed by users with permission to create groups and alert templates.
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
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)
Set the delivery methods, groups, and other specifics for the alert(s)
Associate the desired Alert Template(s) with the necessary Integrations
Note:
County-based weather-integration alerts can also be configured to post on social media.