WeatherMaster - Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is WeatherMaster ?

A comprehensive site featuring weather data from the continental United States. Reports are available from the National Weather Service offices from around the country. Latest radar images, satellite photos, and other graphic images of weather products that might affect you. We can transmit weather alerts or data, directly to your e-mail box, text pager, text-enabled cell phone, web-enabled PDA, or text-enabled Blackberry device. We are the ONLY service of its kind to offer such a wide range of products, to a wide range of devices. WeatherMaster started operations in 1998 with ordinary e-mail notification and expanded into text pager & cell phone text messaging in 2000, becoming the very first service to do so. WeatherMaster is the ONLY service that transmits its data to the major (and regional) cell phone & pager carriers (11 in all).

What does WeatherMaster cost ?

WeatherMaster alert services are available for $20/year. Other premium (custom) services are available to commercial/business interests. Radio & television stations, newspapers, and other companies can purchase the service, for the benefit for their audience/employees (which they can place in the public inspection file as offering a service for the general community, fulfilling the FCC requirement of "acting in the public interest as a public trustee"). The cost will be MUCH lower than other services offering the same material. One leading weather e-mail service charges nearly $100/year/person for the same service that we offer. Once you have signed up, we can activate your account within 24 hours.

Can anyone use the service ?

Absolutely. For today's "on the go" person, you don't have time to be tied down to a television (or radio) to wait on a watch or a warning. You can be on the golf course, on the farm, on patrol, or whatever. Remember the old adage, "time is money".

I've noticed that all of your information, is weather-related. Is the entire web site just weather-related ?

Yes. Most "weather information" sites, also place news (weather related or not), sports scores, traffic information, and in a few cases, classified ads. WeatherMaster is a PROFESSIONAL WEATHER INFORMATION SITE. No sports, no non-weather news, no classified ads, no oil spills, no mine disasters...just weather. In extreme cases, we will post traffic information, such as hurricane evacuation routes, and other weather-related information. When you visit the WeatherMaster site, you know you'll get all of the weather information you need. We are an information site, we're not in the entertainment business.

I work as a teacher in a local elementary school, and I have a cell phone that is text messaging capable. Can I utilize my cell phone to receive weather warnings, and to protect my students ?

Absolutely. In fact, we encourage EVERYONE to utilize our services, to keep abreast of the changing weather conditions. Golfers, farmers, teachers, law enforcement officers, emergency medical service personnel, hospital workers, hunters, utilities, emergency management personnel, broadcasters, and other media folks, use & depend on WeatherMaster. In most cases, you can receive alerts within 10 seconds of being issued. That makes us THE fastest service around. We provide services to many school systems, governmental & public safety entities, and other non-emergency governmental agencies. Click here to sign up for the service.

I have seen, from time to time, WeatherMaster goes into "Alert 4" mode. What is that ?

WeatherMaster utilizes an "alert mode" system, so we may better inform the public, as to the current (or future) status of overall weather. We have 5 levels of "alert status"...

Alert 1 - All is quiet (or is expected to be within the next few hours). No watches or warnings issued.

Alert 2 - Sporadic warnings are being issued (or is expected), or a Flash Flood Watch (or a Winter Storm Watch) has been issued for a portion of the country. No organized severe weather occurring (or expected).

Alert 3 - Severe weather watches currently active (or expected). Some warnings are also active (or are expected).

Alert 4 - Multiple areas of severe weather watches & warnings occurring (or expected).

Alert 5 - Multiple areas of widespread severe weather occurring (or expected). Long-term watches & warnings are expected.

In the 12 years of WeatherMaster's operation, an "Alert 5" has never been issued. Certain criteria MUST be met before an alert 4 or 5 can be issued.

OK...You say your service is fast. Just how fast is it ?

Most cell phone users (under normal conditions), can get their alerts within SECONDS (7-10 seconds) of issuance (from the National Weather Service). When an alert is received by our servers, the turnaround of the alerts, to the mail servers is LESS THAN ONE SECOND ! The only delay is in your carrier (or ISP). All alerts are computer controlled at the Network Operations Centre (NOC), and DOES NOT require human intervention. WeatherMaster is the FASTEST service around...But don't take our word for it, click here and find out !

I'm having trouble getting my alerts. How can I get help ?

Very simple. Just e-mail the problem here, and a technician from our Network Operations Centre will respond to your request. We are the ONLY service of its kind, that is staffed 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Depending on the workload, it might take a few hours to answer your question, but we will respond to it. WeatherMaster has a primary NOC, and 2 secondary NOC's, to respond to ANY problem, you may have.

When a warning was issued for my county (parish), why didn't WeatherMaster notify me ?

With the new "storm specific warnings" its possible for a warning to be issued for your county (parish) and WeatherMaster not notify you. Our system is programmed to notify you if a warning comes within 1-10 miles (depending on your requirements) of your address. If your county (or parish) covers a large area, this could be the most likely way this can happen. Its not a problem with our system, just that the warning in question does not come within the parameters that you set. However, if you want to change those parameters, just email them here and we can change it in a matter of seconds at no charge to you.

When I watch my local television station, the NWS issued a flash flood watch, my local television station didn't show it, but your site did. What's going on ?

Its true that cable systems, radio & television stations, and WeatherMaster, get the same reports from the National Weather Service. The reason(s) that your television station didn't display the watch, could vary, including human error. This might cause a false sense of security, when a potential watch is issued, and you may not know about it. Our tests have shown when a watch/warning is issued, we have it displayed on our website, BEFORE most local television stations can display it on the air. In some instances, the television station gets it right about 50% of the time. Some stations display a watch for a county, that may not exist, others do not display a watch, when one does exist. Unlike most television stations, WeatherMaster's site is computer controlled at the Network Operations Centre, and will alarm ALL watches & warnings on our web site, and does not require human intervention. We have set our systems to alarm the following products...

Tornado Watches & Warnings

Severe Thunderstorm Watches & Warnings

Flash Flood Watches & Warnings

Winter Storm Watches & Warnings (during the winter season)

In the generalized mode, our map will display all watches and warnings (listed above), so you won't miss anything.

Do you accept advertising ?

Yes we do. We average over 200,000 hits/day, and your company can sponsor a page for as little as $1.00/day. Several tiers of advertising schedules are available, based on the size, and frequency of the ad. Click here for the latest schedule.

We would like to use some of your graphics for our station. How do we go about getting permission ?

Depending on what graphics you would like to use, we can negotiate a special rate for our family of broadcasters. The graphic on our "localized" page is a good example. We can customize a graphic for you, and each time it changes, we can send it to you. This can be done as a small monthly charge, since it is a special order for our services. Due to security issues, special conditions will apply.

When I visit other weather sites, I'm bombarded by "pop up ads", sometimes opening 5-10 other windows at one time. Do you practice this policy ?

ABSOLUTELY NOT ! The only time a new window opens up on WeatherMaster, is when you call up a report, or image. We use third-party services, for system monitoring purposes, and they may generate pop-up ads, if you click on them. We do place advertising on our e-mail portion of our alerts. Advertising on cell phone alerts are limited to a "premium service" meaning that small market radio stations can us it for promotional services, for a monthly fee.

How does WeatherMaster handle security issues ?

There are other services on the internet, that REQUIRE you to download, and install software, and some of them have the flashy graphics. Some of these same services, also keep track of what you see, what sites you visit, and other privacy-invading issues, better known as "spyware". Some of those services also charge a fee for "ad-less" dispatches. WeatherMaster does not require you to download, or install software, so there's no privacy issues with us. The ONLY ads that you see, are on the pages on our web site, and, in some instances, a small ad within each bulletin. WeatherMaster does not invade your computer, nor your privacy. We make a pledge to you, we will NEVER sell, give, trade, barter, or otherwise release your e-mail address to anyone. In some states, this practice is illegal, so we take computer security very seriously, and we're going to keep it that way...PERIOD !

How often do your radars refresh themselves ?

Radars are updated every 5-10 minutes (depending on the individual radar site).

I have taken a "test drive" of your site, and I see reports in your system from 3 days ago. How long do these reports stay in your system ?

Depending on the report, all reports are either deleted from the main system, or over-written within 5 days. some may stay as long as 14 days, but most reports left in the system are purged within 14 days, unless another report is sent by NWS. If that happens, then the "clock" starts over again. We do maintain an archival system for all reports.

I used to receive e-mail notification of severe weather in my area, but it stopped notifying me...What has happened ?

Several things could have happened...Here are a few.

First, one of our servers might be down. This does happen from time to time, but it usually lasts for only a few minutes, but no more than a couple of hours. When our service is restored, then you should start receiving e-mail from us. One thing to note, we NEVER perform maintenance on our servers when the potential of severe weather is great.

Second, If your e-mail box has reached capacity, then messages transmitted to you, are being returned. When this happens, your e-mail address is deleted from our database, and you'll have to sign up again. However, if messages are returned again, then you will be blocked from signing up again.

Third, if your "POP" server is behind a firewall, and is filtered by your network administrator, you will need to contact him/her to un-filter the messages. If this is the case, then messages transmitted to you, may be returning to us. In which case, you will be deleted from the database. A mis-configured spam filter (server side) can also reject our alerts, in which case your network administrator will need to "whitelist" our domain (weathermaster.biz). In any event, you need to contact your vendor/service to remedy these situation. Keep in mind if 10 messages/month are rejected from a user (for whatever reason), that e-mail address (or like device) is deleted from our database. This number DOES NOT include auto-responder replies.

Fourth, the e-mail address that you have sent us is incorrect, in which case it will be deleted from the database. Fees are non-returnable.

Fifth, If your alerts are to a cell phone, and are being returned (for whatever reason), your account is automatically deleted from the database.

Sixth, A mis-configured e-mail server. Some e-mail servers do not update their DNS as often as they should and reject our e-mail, for whatever reason(s). Some ISP's do not allow WeatherMaster to contact their e-mail server and it forces our server to use a backup server to get your alerts to you. You will need to contact your network administrator (or ISP) to work this problem out. Your e-mail server should be configured to allow (or whitelist) e-mail from weathermaster.biz. If enough e-mails are returned during any given time frame, this could cause your e-mail (or other listings) to be deleted from our database. Please make absolutely sure that your (ISP) e-mail servers are configured to allow our e-mails to reach you.

I would like to get a copy of a previous report , that was published on the system about 2 months ago, for research. Can I get a copy of it ?

If the NWS sent the report, then its possible to retrieve it from our system. Bear in mind, that over 150,000 reports are transmitted from the NWS from all over the United States every month, therefore not all reports will be available (images are not available). So please have the following ready...

1. The product name (tornado warning, etc..)

2. Which NWS office issued the product

3. Date & Time of the product (or as close as you can get within 1 day)

4. Any other pertinent information that will help us search the archives.

NOTE: If the product is searched & found, a billable charge of $50.00/document will be incurred. If no document is found, there will be NO CHARGE !

How do I contact WeatherMaster ?

The quickest way is here