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HazardNow

Real-time situational awareness

Transparency

HazardNow Data Sources

HazardNow brings public hazard, weather, infrastructure, transportation, cyber, energy, water, and stability signals into one situational-awareness dashboard. This page explains the major source families, how the dashboard uses them, and the limitations users should understand.

Informational only: HazardNow does not replace official alerts, evacuation notices, NWS warnings, FEMA/IPAWS messages, state or local emergency agencies, utilities, transportation agencies, or official instructions.
Open Live DashboardSee What HazardNow Tracks

Source approach

Public or credible feeds are summarized into plain-language status cards, map layers, tickers, and weekly briefs.

Refresh model

HazardNow uses cached snapshots and scheduled refreshes in general terms so users get fast pages without exposing private implementation details.

Use safely

Treat every summary as a starting point, then verify urgent decisions with the primary agency or local authority.

Implemented source categories

Public feeds behind the dashboard

Categories below reflect dashboard features and public content currently implemented or clearly referenced in the project.

Weather alerts and forecasts

Weather alerts, observations, and short-range forecast context

HazardNow uses public NWS weather data to summarize active watches, warnings, advisories, local conditions, and near-term forecast context for the selected dashboard region.

Source family

  • NOAA National Weather Service API
  • NWS active alerts
  • NWS point forecasts and observation stations

What HazardNow uses it for

  • Active weather alert cards, map polygons, and the operational NWS alert feed.
  • Local temperature, wind, humidity, visibility, and inclement forecast context.
  • Weather-related triage signals that point users back to official NWS and local instructions.

Typical update cadence

Refreshed frequently by the dashboard and HazardNow cache process; exact timing can vary by NWS endpoint and region.

Known limitations

  • NWS alerts can change, expire, or be corrected by the issuing office after HazardNow has displayed a snapshot.
  • Geographic filtering is an awareness aid and may not perfectly match every official warning boundary.
  • Local conditions depend on nearby stations and may not represent microclimates or conditions at your exact address.

Official or primary links

National Weather ServiceNWS API

Weather map layers

Radar and severe-weather map overlays

Optional map overlays add radar, severe thunderstorm outlook, excessive rainfall, flood, and tropical cyclone context where those public layers are available.

Source family

  • RainViewer public weather maps
  • NOAA/NWS Storm Prediction Center
  • NOAA/NWS Weather Prediction Center
  • NOAA/NWS National Hurricane Center

What HazardNow uses it for

  • Dashboard map overlays and regional hazard context.

Typical update cadence

Varies by source. Radar frames refresh frequently; outlook and forecast products update when the issuing NOAA/NWS center publishes changes.

Known limitations

  • Map overlays are context layers, not instructions to act.
  • Tile coverage, product timing, and polygon boundaries can differ from local official products.
  • Some overlays may be unavailable temporarily if the upstream source changes format or has an outage.

Wildfire, smoke, and air quality

Wildfire detections, fire context, AQI, and smoke-related conditions

HazardNow combines fire hotspot detections, wildfire incident context, and air-quality observations to show where fire and smoke impacts may overlap.

Source family

  • NASA FIRMS
  • AirNow
  • NIFC/WFIGS public incident context where available

What HazardNow uses it for

  • Wildfire hotspot markers, wildfire/smoke dashboard cards, AQI summaries, and related SEO landing pages.

Typical update cadence

Varies by source and satellite pass. HazardNow refreshes cached snapshots on a scheduled basis and displays source freshness where available.

Known limitations

  • Satellite hotspots are detections, not official incident perimeters, and may include false positives or miss fires under clouds or smoke.
  • AQI observations are station-based and may not capture every neighborhood or fast-moving smoke plume.
  • Always verify evacuation, shelter, and air-quality health guidance with official local agencies.

Earthquakes and environmental monitoring

Earthquake activity and radiation context

Recent earthquake feeds and environmental radiation readings provide additional natural-hazard context on the dashboard.

Source family

  • USGS earthquake feeds
  • EPA RadNet cached public readings

What HazardNow uses it for

  • Earthquake markers and recent-event cards.
  • Radiation context cards and map markers where public readings are available.

Typical update cadence

USGS earthquake data is requested frequently. Radiation context is refreshed by HazardNow's scheduled cache process when public readings are available.

Known limitations

  • Earthquake magnitudes, locations, and depths can be revised by USGS after initial publication.
  • Radiation monitoring coverage is uneven and should not be treated as a complete local safety assessment.

Power grid and outages

Regional grid stress and outage context

HazardNow summarizes public grid-operator status pages and public outage context to flag stress across major electricity regions.

Source family

  • ERCOT
  • CAISO
  • NYISO
  • ISO-NE
  • SPP
  • PJM
  • DOE ODIN outage context

What HazardNow uses it for

  • Power grid status cards, regional grid-stress labels, outage context, and infrastructure-risk summaries.

Typical update cadence

Refreshed by HazardNow's scheduled cache process. Public operator pages update on their own cadence and may change format without notice.

Known limitations

  • Grid operator footprints do not cover every U.S. utility or local outage area.
  • Outage context may lag utility restoration dashboards and may not identify neighborhood-level impacts.
  • Use utility websites and local emergency information for restoration estimates and safety instructions.

FEMA/IPAWS and security bulletins

Public emergency alerts and DHS NTAS bulletins

HazardNow displays public alert context from FEMA/IPAWS and national security bulletin status from DHS NTAS where available.

Source family

  • FEMA IPAWS public alert feed
  • DHS National Terrorism Advisory System

What HazardNow uses it for

  • Public alert ticker items, national security status context, and cross-domain alert summaries.

Typical update cadence

Updated when public alert or bulletin source data changes and through HazardNow's scheduled refreshes.

Known limitations

  • HazardNow is not IPAWS, Wireless Emergency Alerts, Emergency Alert System, or an official notification channel.
  • Alert availability, CAP fields, polygons, and archive/live feed behavior can vary by sender and source status.
  • During an emergency, follow official local alerts, evacuation orders, and public safety instructions immediately.

Official or primary links

FEMA IPAWSDHS NTAS

Internet, cyber, and telecom context

Connectivity, cyber tempo, and FCC telecom context

HazardNow uses public cyber and communications context to show whether digital infrastructure stress appears normal, active, elevated, or unavailable.

Source family

  • CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities catalog
  • CISA cybersecurity advisory feeds
  • FCC public communications and telecom context
  • public provider/status context where available

What HazardNow uses it for

  • Internet/cyber dashboard card, cyber tempo summaries, and telecom context as corroborating situational awareness.

Typical update cadence

Varies by public source; refreshed by HazardNow's scheduled cache process and when source data changes.

Known limitations

  • Cyber tempo is a broad public signal and does not indicate whether your device, account, ISP, or organization is affected.
  • Public telecom context is incomplete and may lag official incident reports or provider status pages.
  • Use provider, employer, agency, and CISA instructions for specific cyber or communications incidents.

Aviation delays and transportation

Aviation delays and transportation-system context

HazardNow tracks public aviation-delay status and supply-chain/freight context to highlight travel and logistics stress.

Source family

  • FAA National Airspace System status
  • Bureau of Transportation Statistics freight indicators
  • DOT/BTS public data portals

What HazardNow uses it for

  • Airport delay dashboard card, affected-airport summaries, and supply-chain friction context.

Typical update cadence

FAA status is checked frequently. Freight and supply-chain context varies by BTS/DOT publication cadence and HazardNow cache refreshes.

Known limitations

  • Aviation delay status can change faster than any dashboard snapshot.
  • HazardNow does not replace airline, airport, FAA, port, rail, shipper, or road-agency operational instructions.
  • Freight indicators are broad context and may not describe a specific shipment or route.

Fuel supply and energy markets

Fuel supply, energy-market, and macro-market context

Fuel and market indicators help HazardNow show whether energy availability, prices, or financial stress could amplify other hazards.

Source family

  • U.S. Energy Information Administration
  • Federal Reserve Economic Data
  • Coinbase market data where used for market context

What HazardNow uses it for

  • Fuel supply monitoring, market ticker context, economic stress scoring, and global stability synthesis inputs.

Typical update cadence

Varies by dataset. Fuel and economic snapshots are refreshed by HazardNow's scheduled cache process when source data is available.

Known limitations

  • Market prices and fuel datasets have different publication delays and are not personal financial advice.
  • Regional fuel availability can differ from national or PADD-level public data.
  • Use official agencies, suppliers, and local outlets for immediate fuel availability and safety guidance.

Water stress and drought

Drought and streamflow context

HazardNow uses drought severity and representative streamflow context to summarize water stress as a compounding hazard signal.

Source family

  • U.S. Drought Monitor
  • USGS Water Services

What HazardNow uses it for

  • Water stress dashboard card, drought context, and infrastructure-readiness summaries.

Typical update cadence

Varies by source. Drought Monitor products update on their publication schedule; streamflow and HazardNow snapshots refresh through scheduled cache processes.

Known limitations

  • Drought categories are broad area estimates and do not reflect every water system or household well.
  • Representative stream gauges may not describe conditions in every watershed.
  • Follow local water agencies for restrictions, boil-water notices, and conservation instructions.

Official or primary links

U.S. Drought MonitorUSGS Water Data

Space weather

Solar and geomagnetic conditions

Space-weather context helps users notice solar and geomagnetic activity that can affect radio, satellite, GPS, aviation, or grid-related context.

Source family

  • NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center

What HazardNow uses it for

  • Space weather dashboard status and global stability infrastructure context.

Typical update cadence

Updated when SWPC public products change and through HazardNow's cache refreshes.

Known limitations

  • Space-weather impacts are specialized and can vary by technology, latitude, operator, and mitigation posture.
  • HazardNow does not replace SWPC watches, warnings, alerts, or operator-specific technical guidance.

Official or primary links

NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center

Economic stress and global stability synthesis

Economic stress and cross-domain stability synthesis

HazardNow combines public economic, market, hazard, infrastructure, cyber, and space-weather context into higher-level stress and stability summaries.

Source family

  • FRED
  • public market data
  • dashboard hazard and infrastructure signals
  • cited public sources used in generated stability snapshots

What HazardNow uses it for

  • Economic stress card, global stability synthesis card, weekly briefs, and cross-domain context.

Typical update cadence

Economic and global stability snapshots are refreshed by scheduled cache processes. Global stability synthesis is intentionally cached and refreshed on a controlled cadence rather than on every page load.

Known limitations

  • Synthesis is contextual and may use AI-generated summaries; it is not an official warning, forecast, intelligence assessment, or financial recommendation.
  • Inputs can lag, conflict, or be unavailable, and public-source citations may change over time.
  • Use primary sources and official instructions for decisions involving safety, travel, health, finance, or operations.

Official or primary links

FREDHazardNow weekly briefs

FAQ

Data source questions

Is HazardNow an official emergency alert system?

No. HazardNow is informational only. It does not replace official alerts, evacuation notices, NWS warnings, FEMA/IPAWS messages, state or local emergency agencies, utilities, law enforcement, or first-responder instructions.

How often does HazardNow update?

Update timing varies by source. Some feeds refresh frequently, some update only when an agency publishes a new product, and some are refreshed by HazardNow's scheduled cache process. HazardNow avoids promising exact live-to-the-second timing when the source cadence varies.

Why can HazardNow differ from an official agency website?

Public feeds can lag, fail, change format, be corrected, use different boundaries, or report at different aggregation levels. HazardNow summarizes multiple feeds for awareness, while official agency sites remain the source of record for protective actions.

What should I do during an active emergency?

Follow official local, state, and federal instructions immediately. Use HazardNow only as a supplemental overview, and confirm warnings, evacuations, shelters, road closures, health guidance, and utility information through official channels.

Does HazardNow use AI-generated summaries?

Some higher-level synthesis or weekly brief content may be AI-generated from public signals and cached snapshots. Those summaries are context only and are not official warnings, evacuation instructions, forecasts, or professional advice.