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:
|
Optional |
certainty |
Enum | The level of certainty for the alert:
|
Optional |
urgency |
Enum | The level of urgency for the alert:
|
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.
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_RAINAVALANCHEBLIZZARDBLOWING_SNOWCOASTAL_FLOODCOASTAL_HAZARDCOLDCYCLONEDROUGHTEXTRATROPICAL_CYCLONEFIRE_WEATHERFLASH_FLOODFLOODFOGFREEZINGFREEZING_AIR_TEMPERATUREFREEZING_DRIZZLEFREEZING_RAINFROSTGALEGLAZEHAILHAZARDOUS_SEASHEATHUMIDITYHURRICANEICE_STORMLAKE_EFFECT_SNOWMONSOONMUDDY_FLOODOUTFLOWRAIN
|
RIVER_FLOODINGSEVERE_THUNDERSTORM_WARNINGSNOWSNOWSQUALLSTORMSTORM_SURGETHUNDERTHUNDERSTORMTORNADOTORNADO_WARNINGTROPICAL_CYCLONETROPICAL_CYCLONE_WARNINGS_AND_WATCHESTROPICAL_DISTURBANCETROPICAL_STORMTYPHOONWINDWIND_CHILLWIND_WAVEWINTER_STORMWILDFIREBUSHFIREFIRELANDSLIDEEARTHQUAKEDUST_STORMAFTERSHOCKTSUNAMIVOLCANIC_ASHVOLCANIC_ERUPTIONRADIATION |
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 requestedlanguageCodeis both provided and supported, the response is returned in the requested language. - Unsupported
languageCode: In cases where the requestedlanguageCodeis not supported and a close alternative cannot be found, the endpoint returns the response in English by default. - No
languageCodeprovided: 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!
The APIs Explorer lets you make sample requests so that you can get familiar with the API and the API options.
Select the API icon api on the right side of the page.
Optionally edit the request parameters.
Select the Execute button. In the dialog, choose the account that you want to use to make the request.
In the APIs Explorer panel, select the fullscreen icon fullscreen to expand the APIs Explorer window.