Get weather alerts

The publicAlerts endpoint provides details for specific weather event alerts issued by authoritative national and international agencies. These alerts deliver crucial, potentially life-saving information.

The endpoint returns weather alerts occurring in real time for a given latitude and longitude. Supported weather events include the following:

  • Precipitation: Rain, snow, hail, droughts, and more
  • Extreme temperatures: Cold, heat, freeze, frost, wind chill, and humidity
  • Wind and storm events: Blizzards, hurricanes, tornados, tropical storms, thunderstorms, and more
  • Visibility impairments: Fog, dust storms, and blowing snow
  • Water-related hazards: Floods, tsunamis, storm surges, coastal hazards, and more
  • Geophysical and geological events: Earthquakes, landslides, and volcanic activity
  • Fire incidents: Wildfire, fire weather, and more

For a complete list of supported weather events, see Weather event types.

Alerts may or may not contain localized descriptions, depending on what is available from the data source. Due to data source restrictions, the information is served as-is (raw content). For more information about weather alert sources, see Data sources.

The API returns the following information for a given weather alert:

  • The type of weather event associated with the alert
  • A list of affected areas along with coordinates defining the geographical boundaries of those areas
  • A one-sentence summary of the weather event
  • Severity, certainty, and urgency levels
  • A description of action-recommend instructions for the target audience
  • Safety recommendations
  • Start and end times for the alert
  • The name and website of the publishing authority

The APIs Explorer lets you make live requests so that you can get familiar with the API and the API options:

About weather alert requests

To request weather alert information, send an HTTP GET request to:

https://weather.googleapis.com/v1/publicAlerts:lookup?key=YOUR_API_KEY&location.latitude=LATITUDE&location.longitude=LONGITUDE&languageCode=LANGUAGE_CODE

Include the latitude and longitude coordinates of the location in your request URL parameters.

About weather alert responses

The Weather API returns the following fields in the response body:

Field Type Description Required or optional
alertId String The alert ID. This can also be found on the data provider website. Required
alertTitle String The title of the alert, which describes the weather event.

Note: This is the only string that is translated when a language code parameter is included in the request.
Required
eventType Enum The type of weather event associated with the alert.

For a full list of supported weather events, see Weather event types.
Required
areaName String The name of the geographic area affected by the alert, which includes the requested location. Required
polygon String Coordinates defining a closed dimensional area of the alert. Optional
description String A short phrase that summarizes the event description in the specified language (for example, "Tornado warning"). Optional
severity Enum The level of severity for the alert:
  • Extreme: Extraordinary threat to life or property
  • Severe: Significant threat to life or property
  • Moderate: Possible threat to life or property
  • Minor: Minimal to no known threat to life or property
  • Unknown: Severity unknown
Optional
certainty Enum The level of certainty for the alert:
  • Observed: Determined to have occurred or to be ongoing
  • Very Likely: Very likely to have occurred or to be ongoing
  • Likely: Likely (p > ~50%) to have occurred or to be ongoing
  • Possible: Possible but not likely to have occurred or to be ongoing (p <= ~50%)
  • Unlikely: Not expected to occur (p ~ 0)
  • Unknown: Certainty unknown
Optional
urgency Enum The level of urgency for the alert:
  • Immediate: Responsive action SHOULD be taken immediately
  • Expected: Responsive action SHOULD be taken soon (within the next hour)
  • Future: Responsive action SHOULD be taken in the near future
  • Past: Responsive action is no longer required
  • Unknown: Urgency unknown
Optional
instruction String Description of responsive action instructions for the target audience. Optional
safetyRecommendations String Safety recommendations based on public authority codes. Includes top-level directives and subtext with additional information. Optional
timezoneOffset String The timezone offset of the event, in +/-HH:MM format. Required
startTime DateTime The effective Epoch date and time (UTC time) of the information in the alert message. Optional
expirationTime DateTime The Epoch date and time (UTC time) that an alert is expected to end. It may be null for indefinitely long events, in which case the headline will indicate that the event is "in effect". Optional
dataSource Enum Authority details including publisher, name, and URL. Required
regionCode Enum Region code of the location that has been requested. Optional

Data sources

The weather alerts endpoint returns data published by the providers listed in the following table. Based on the latitude and longitude coordinates provided in the request, the response body surfaces data from the appropriate local authority.

Providers included in the feed follow Google's Public Alerts guidelines. Google may update the list of providers at any time.

Country Agency
Australia ACT Emergency Services Agency (ACT ESA)
New South Wales Rural Fire Service (NSW RFS)
South Australian Country Fire Service (SA CFS)
Tasmania Fire Service (TFS)
Queensland Fire and Emergency Services (QFES)
Austria GeoSphere Austria through MeteoAlarm
Belgium Royal Meteorological Institute of Belgium through MeteoAlarm
Bosnia and Herzegovina Federal Hydro-meteorological Institute (FHMZ) through MeteoAlarm
Bulgaria National Institute of Meteorology & Hydrology through MeteoAlarm
Brazil Centro Nacional de Gerenciamento de Riscos e Desastres (CENAD)
Instituto Nacional de Meteorologia (INMET)
Colombia Unidad Nacional para la Gestión del Riesgo de Desastres (UNGRD)
Côte d'Ivoire Société d'Exploitation et de Développement Aéroportuaire, Aéronautique et Météorologique
Croatia Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Service through MeteoAlarm
Cyprus Department of Meteorology through MeteoAlarm
Czechia Czech Hydrometeorological Institute through MeteoAlarm
Denmark Danish Meteorological Institute through MeteoAlarm
Ecuador Instituto Nacional de Meteorología e Hidrología
Estonia Ministry of Climate through MeteoAlarm
Finland Finnish Meteorological Institute through MeteoAlarm
France Météo-France through MeteoAlarm
Germany DWD - The German Weather Service
Greece Hellenic National Meteorological Service through MeteoAlarm
Guinea Agence Nationale de la Météorologie
Hungary HungaroMet Nonprofit Zrt through MeteoAlarm
Iceland Icelandic Meteorological Office through MeteoAlarm
Ireland Met Eirann through MeteoAlarm
Italy Italian Meteorological Service through MeteoAlarm
Jamaica Meteorological Service of Jamaica
Japan Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA)
Latvia Latvian Environment, Geology and Meteorology Centre through MeteoAlarm
Lithuania Lithuanian Hydrometeorological Service through MeteoAlarm
Luxemburg MeteoLux through MeteoAlarm
Madagascar Météo Madagascar
Mexico Centro de Instrumentación y Registro Sísmico A.C. (CIRES)
Netherlands Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute through MeteoAlarm
North Macedonia National Hydrometeorological Service through MeteoAlarm
Norway Norwegian Meteorological Institute through MeteoAlarm
New Zealand GNS Science (GeoNet)
MetService
Philippines Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical & Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA)
Poland Institute of Meteorology and Water Management through MeteoAlarm
Portugal Portuguese Institute for Sea and Atmosphere through MeteoAlarm
Romania National Meteorological Administration through MeteoAlarm
Serbia Republic Hydrometeorological Institute of Serbia through MeteoAlarm
Singapore Meteorological Service Singapore
Slovakia Slovak Hydrometeorological Institute through MeteoAlarm
Slovenia Hydrometeorological Institute of Slovenia through MeteoAlarm
Solomon Islands Solomon Islands Meteorological Services
South Korea Korea Meteorological Administration
Spain State Meteorological Agency through MeteoAlarm
Sweden Swedish Meteorological and Hydrological Institute through MeteoAlarm
Switzerland Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss through MeteoAlarm
Taiwan National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction (NCDR)
Thailand Thai Meteorological Department
United Kingdom Met Office through MeteoAlarm
UK Environment Agency
United States National Tsunami Warning Center
US National Weather Service
Vietnam National Center for Hydrometeorological Forecasting

Attribution

On all displays where the data is presented, the customer application must include an attribution to the original source using the dataSource field:

"dataSource": {
        "publisher": "NOAA",
        "name": "National Weather Service",
        "authorityUri": "https://www.weather.gov/"
      }

The attribution must include the full name of the data source (as provided in the name field) and hyperlink to the data source using the URL provided in the authorityUri field (for example, "National Weather Service").

Weather event types

The following weather event types are supported:

Weather event types
ACID_RAIN
AVALANCHE
BLIZZARD
BLOWING_SNOW
COASTAL_FLOOD
COASTAL_HAZARD
COLD
CYCLONE
DROUGHT
EXTRATROPICAL_CYCLONE
FIRE_WEATHER
FLASH_FLOOD
FLOOD
FOG
FREEZING
FREEZING_AIR_TEMPERATURE
FREEZING_DRIZZLE
FREEZING_RAIN
FROST
GALE
GLAZE
HAIL
HAZARDOUS_SEAS
HEAT
HUMIDITY
HURRICANE
ICE_STORM
LAKE_EFFECT_SNOW
MONSOON
MUDDY_FLOOD
OUTFLOW
RAIN
RIVER_FLOODING
SEVERE_THUNDERSTORM_WARNING
SNOW
SNOWSQUALL
STORM
STORM_SURGE
THUNDER
THUNDERSTORM
TORNADO
TORNADO_WARNING
TROPICAL_CYCLONE
TROPICAL_CYCLONE_WARNINGS_AND_WATCHES
TROPICAL_DISTURBANCE
TROPICAL_STORM
TYPHOON
WIND
WIND_CHILL
WIND_WAVE
WINTER_STORM
WILDFIRE
BUSHFIRE
FIRE
LANDSLIDE
EARTHQUAKE
DUST_STORM
AFTERSHOCK
TSUNAMI
VOLCANIC_ASH
VOLCANIC_ERUPTION
RADIATION

Response translation behavior

Google provides translations for the alertTitle field only. Other fields such as eventType, areaName, instruction, and safetyRecommendations may also be translated, depending on the original data source's language support; however, Google can't provide independent translations for these fields.

Based on the languageCode parameter included in the request, the following behaviors are expected for the alertTitle field:

  • Supported languageCode: If the requested languageCode is both provided and supported, the response is returned in the requested language.
  • Unsupported languageCode: In cases where the requested languageCode is not supported and a close alternative cannot be found, the endpoint returns the response in English by default.
  • No languageCode provided: The endpoint returns the response in English by default.

Weather alert request example

The following example requests weather alert information for a town in North Carolina:

curl -X GET "https://weather.googleapis.com/v1/publicAlerts:lookup?key=YOUR_API_KEY&location.latitude=35.824635&location.longitude=-78.3168047&languageCode=en"

The response body is as follows:

{
  "weatherAlerts": [
    {
      "alertId": "urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.2416b1b5a6f51d29ef4b94948328dca303fbbb5c.001.1",
      "alertTitle": {
        "text": "Flash Flood Warning",
        "languageCode": "en"
      },
      "eventType": "FLASH_FLOOD",
      "areaName": "Franklin, NC; Johnston, NC; Nash, NC; Wake, NC",
      "polygon": "{\"type\":\"Polygon\",\"coordinates\":[[[-78.450000,35.820000],[-78.410000,35.730000],[-78.280000,35.660000],
        [-78.180000,35.740000],[-77.840000,36.150000],[-77.890000,36.140000],[-77.900000,36.160000],[-77.920000,36.170000],
        [-77.930000,36.190000], [-77.940000,36.190000],[-77.950000,36.180000],[-77.970000,36.190000],[-77.970000,36.180000],
        [-77.980000,36.180000],[-78.010000,36.210000],[-78.040000,36.210000],[-78.110000,36.210000],[-78.130000,36.230000],
        [-78.350000,35.940000],[-78.450000,35.820000]]]}",
      "description": "FFWRAH\n\nThe National Weather Service in Raleigh has issued a\n\n* Flash Flood Warning for...
        \nEastern Franklin County in central North Carolina...\nNorth Central Johnston County in central North Carolina...
        \nWestern Nash County in central North Carolina...\nEast Central Wake County in central North Carolina...
        \n\n* Until 530 PM EDT.\n\n* At 224 PM EDT, local law enforcement reported flash flooding in\nSpring Hope. Between 3 and 5 inches of rain have fallen.
        \nAdditional rainfall amounts of 1 to 3 inches are possible in the\nwarned area.\n\nHAZARD...Life threatening flash flooding.
        Heavy rain producing\nflash flooding.\n\nSOURCE...Law enforcement reported.\n\nIMPACT...Life threatening flash flooding of creeks and streams,\nurban areas,
        highways, streets and underpasses.\n\n* Some locations that will experience flash flooding include...
        \nZebulon, Bunn, Wendell, Spring Hope, Middlesex, Castalia,\nCenterville, Pilot, Emit and Aventon.",
      "severity": "SEVERE",
      "certainty": "LIKELY",
      "urgency": "IMMEDIATE",
      "instruction": [
        "Turn around, don't drown when encountering flooded roads. Most flood\ndeaths occur in vehicles."
      ],
      "safetyRecommendations": [
        {
          "directive": "Build an emergency kit and make a family communications plan.",
          "subtext": "Follow the instructions at http://www.ready.gov/build-a-kit for building 
            an emergency kit and http://www.ready.gov/make-a-plan for a family communications plan."
        },
        {
          "directive": "Be aware that flash flooding can occur. ",
          "subtext": "If there is any possibility of a flash flood, move immediately to higher ground. Do not wait for instructions to move."
        },
        ...
      ],
      "timezoneOffset": "-14400s",
      "startTime": "2025-08-06T18:24:00Z",
      "expirationTime": "2025-08-06T21:30:00Z",
      "dataSource": {
        "publisher": "NOAA",
        "name": "National Weather Service",
        "authorityUri": "https://www.weather.gov/"
      }
    }
  ],
  "regionCode": "US"
}

Try it!

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