Methodology / data freshness
How HazardNow works
HazardNow combines public hazard, infrastructure, travel, environmental, health, and stability signals into a single situational-awareness dashboard.
What it does
Aggregates public signals, labels them for fast scanning, and links users back to source context and the live dashboard.
What it does not do
HazardNow is not an official alerting system, a replacement for local emergency management, NWS, FEMA, public-health agencies, utilities, airlines, or other official sources, and it does not provide personal emergency instructions.
How to use it
Use the dashboard to notice context and decide what to verify next. Use official alerts, local emergency management, utility, airline, and agency sources for final decisions.
Status-label methodology
Dashboard cards convert source-specific data into simple labels such as normal, elevated, delayed, tight, stale, degraded, or unavailable. The label is a scan aid, not a final decision authority.
Each card favors plain-English summaries, source freshness, known limitations, and links to related source pages. When source data is missing or too old for the expected cadence, HazardNow should show degraded, stale, unavailable, or similar language instead of silently implying normal conditions.
Weekly or slower public sources should not be treated as stale simply because they do not update hourly. Freshness is interpreted relative to each provider's normal publication cycle.
Source transparency table
Examples of source families, cadence expectations, and where they appear in the dashboard.
| Category | Example sources | Typical cadence | Dashboard area |
|---|---|---|---|
| Weather alerts and forecasts | National Weather Service, NWS API | Refreshed frequently by the dashboard and HazardNow cache process; exact timing can vary by NWS endpoint and region. | Live dashboard |
| Weather map layers | NOAA/NESDIS/STAR GOES imagery, RainViewer, Storm Prediction Center | Varies by source. The GOES loop route uses NOAA/NESDIS/STAR imagery with a 300-second route revalidation/cache TTL; GOES CONUS frames are labeled about 5 minutes, full-disk about 10 minutes, and mesoscale sectors about 1 minute. Radar and outlook products follow their own source cadence. | Live dashboard |
| Wildfire, smoke, and air quality | NASA FIRMS, AirNow, National Interagency Fire Center | Varies by source and satellite pass. HazardNow refreshes cached snapshots on a scheduled basis and displays source freshness where available. | Live dashboard |
| Earthquakes and environmental monitoring | USGS Earthquake Hazards Program, EPA RadNet, EPA RadNet CSV downloads | USGS earthquake data is requested frequently. Radiation context is refreshed by HazardNow's scheduled cache process from EPA RadNet downloadable current-year CSV/ZIP station files several times daily when public readings are available. | Live dashboard |
| Power grid and outages | ERCOT, CAISO, NYISO | Refreshed by HazardNow's scheduled cache process. Public operator pages update on their own cadence and may change format without notice. | Live dashboard |
| FEMA/IPAWS and security bulletins | FEMA IPAWS, DHS NTAS | Updated when public alert or bulletin source data changes and through HazardNow's scheduled refreshes. | Live dashboard |
| Internet, cyber, and telecom context | CISA Known Exploited Vulnerabilities Catalog, CISA Cybersecurity Advisories, FCC | Varies by public source; refreshed by HazardNow's scheduled cache process and when source data changes. | Live dashboard |
| Aviation delays and transportation | FAA NAS Status, FAA NAS airport status API, BTS Supply Chain and Freight Indicators | FAA status is checked frequently. Freight and supply-chain context varies by BTS/DOT publication cadence and HazardNow cache refreshes. | Live dashboard |
| Fuel supply and energy markets | U.S. Energy Information Administration, FRED | Varies by dataset. Fuel and economic snapshots are refreshed by HazardNow's scheduled cache process when source data is available. | Live dashboard |
| Financial markets | Twelve Data, FRED, Stooq | The scheduled markets ingest is configured for hourly cache writes (cron 0 * * * *) with a two-hour cache envelope; individual quote freshness follows each market definition, trading calendar, and provider timestamp. | Live dashboard |
| Water stress and drought | U.S. Drought Monitor, USGS Water Data, USGS Water Services instantaneous values | Varies by source. Drought Monitor products update on their publication schedule; streamflow and HazardNow snapshots refresh through scheduled cache processes. | Live dashboard |
| Space weather | NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, NOAA SWPC JSON services | Updated when SWPC public products change and through HazardNow's cache refreshes. | Live dashboard |