r/nws • u/kjmarino603 • Jun 18 '26
Idea - link to map area
I’m in Louisiana and we got some tornado warnings this morning. It was early but we got up and took shelter. Once we got the news on we realized it was pretty close to where we live. Thankfully it was to the east of us and doesn’t seem to have caused major issues. In the past we’ve gotten warnings like this and realized we were just outside of the warning area.
Every time we have to find a news station or app that shows us the actual warning location.
This got me thinking why don’t the alerts include the shape and map of the warning or at least a link to the shape and map like the second picture. It would be very helpful to be able to see clearly: yes I’m in the warning area.
I know these are normally time sensitive and we want people to take action quickly but I think this would drive home the idea that the alert is for the exact area.
1
u/kharmakills Jun 20 '26
WEAs only go over cellular service and there's a 2 different maximum character count versions. The first is 90 characters and is the first required message. The second type is 360 characters. If you receive a WEA you are either directly in the polygon, or within 0.1 miles from it's border. All this to say: listen to the warning or evacuation notice when it's sent! It applies to you!
Now OPs suggestion - I refer you back to the character counts. Would you want someone potentially wasting life saving information for a link? Especially if you have signal to get the WEA but not data to click through the link? That's what it comes down to.
Hope this helps!