How do you get weather alerts sent to your home phone?

Question

In case your sleeping and bad weather is happening, I'm new to Texas and 'm not sure about there weather condition.

Answer 1

I was raised in Calif, and now live near Dallas.. this was always a worry of mine.  My new husband has experience with ham radio (weather spotters) so I learned a few things.  

One.. you have the computer, so you can play with some of the radar sites, and how they can help.

http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/wrh/nwspage.php

http://www.intellicast.com/National/Rada...

Spending some time watching the patterns, you will soon learn that (for example) most storms around here, come from the northwest (ie the panhandle, ), or due west (Abilene). That way.. you can see storms building, the direction they are going, and you have several hours to be prepared.  Most of your tv stations will also be having summaries, especially the 10 pm news. If it is going to be a bad night, they will be alerting you to be alert.

Weather radios are about 30-40 bucks.. and can be programmed for going off when a warning is issued for your area. Personally, I want to know when the warning goes off a couple counties to the direction of where storms are coming  from. Not wait until last minute.  You can also find the websites for your local tv stations, many now offer alerts by phone (subscribe/register).

I got put to the test yesterday. By watching forecasts, I knew that there was a high risk of storms in the midwest, where my dau/ son in law were driving (truck driver). I had intellicast on the screen early, and kept refreshing it (they have one screen showing watch/warning boxes).  The watch box for NE Iowa went up early and I caught it, as well as seeing the storm itself on radar as it got bigger.  Their route happened to be in the immediate area of Parkersburg, and I knew the storm was at boiling point about the time they got into the area, and they also had visual on it.  The minute the reports started through NWS that the tornado was on the ground, I was using google maps to know just where it was, in relation to my kids.  The storm path ran parallel to them but a few miles away, but I also was keeping them from driving into the immediate path.  The whole thing was surreal.

You can drop me a note via my profile, if you like.. let me know where you are at, and I can also give you more details on how to juggle the best features of the different sites.

When there is a high risk, you will KNOW far enough ahead, to be ready.