Weather Zones
Choose which National Weather Service zones you want to follow for alerts.
Weather Zones is the picker that decides what turns up on the Alerts tab of the Weather screen. It loads the official list of forecast zones and lets you tick the ones that cover your response area. From then on the app checks those zones for active alerts, shows them with a count, and notifies you when new ones arrive.
Overview
| Element | What it shows |
|---|---|
| Search field | Filters the list by zone name or by zone code |
| Zone name | The official name of the zone, such as "Los Angeles County Coast" |
| Zone code | The official identifier beneath the name, such as CAZ041 |
| Checkbox | A filled tick marks zones you are following; an empty square marks ones you are not |
| Done | Saves your selections and closes the screen |
| Back | Closes without saving your changes |
The list is deduplicated as it loads, so each zone appears exactly once even though the official feed can list a zone more than one way.
The zone list is downloaded live from the National Weather Service each time you open this screen, so it always reflects the current official names and codes. A spinner covers the screen while it loads.
Getting Here
- Open Home, then tap Weather.
- Go to the Alerts tab with Weather Alert.
- Tap the Add (+) button and choose Add New Zone.
Finding a Zone
- Tap the search field and start typing.
- The list narrows as you type. Matching is not case sensitive and ignores leading and trailing spaces.
- Clear the field to bring the whole list back.
| Search covers | Example |
|---|---|
| Zone name | Typing "coast" finds every coastal zone |
| Zone code | Typing "CAZ04" finds the zones with codes starting that way |
If you know your zone code — the four-to-six character identifier your local forecast office uses — searching by code is far quicker than scrolling. If you do not, search by county or district name.
Following or Unfollowing a Zone
- Find the zone in the list.
- Tap the row. The checkbox fills in to show you are now following it.
- Tap the row again to unfollow. The checkbox goes back to an empty square.
- Repeat for every zone you want, then tap Done.
The whole list is fresh each time you open the screen, but your existing selections are already ticked, so you only have to change the difference.
Saving
- Tap Done.
- The screen closes and the Alerts tab immediately refetches active alerts for your new set of zones, one zone at a time, with a spinner while it works.
- Your selection is saved into your account settings and, once you are online, pushed to the server.
| Situation | What you see on the Alerts tab |
|---|---|
| You are following at least one zone | A row per zone, each with a count of active alerts |
| You unticked everything | The empty-state message, because there is nothing to check |
Backing out without tapping Done leaves your previously saved set of zones alone.
Your zone selection is part of your account settings, not just a setting on this phone. Changing it here changes it on your other devices once they sync, and it changes which weather alerts you are notified about.
How Many Zones to Follow
| Situation | Recommended |
|---|---|
| A single-station agency | The one or two zones covering your district |
| An agency with mutual aid across a county | Your own zones plus the neighbouring ones you respond into |
| Following everything in the state | Not recommended — the Alerts tab becomes unreadable and notifications lose their meaning |
Each zone you follow is checked separately, so a very long list also makes the Alerts tab slower to load.
Follow only the zones that cover where you actually respond. A focused Alerts tab is one you will read; a list of forty zones is one you will start ignoring.
Working Offline
| Action | Offline behavior |
|---|---|
| Opening this screen | Needs a connection — the zone list is fetched live |
| Changing your selection | Needs the list, so it needs a connection |
| Saving | Saved to your device and marked to be pushed to your account settings when you reconnect |
| Reading alerts for zones you already follow | Works from the last alerts the app saved |
If the zone list cannot be reached the spinner clears and the list stays empty; reconnect and reopen the screen.
How This Connects
- Where the data comes from. The list of zones is the official National Weather Service zone list, fetched live. The alerts themselves are then fetched per zone from the same service, and the results are cached on your device so the Alerts tab still has something to show offline.
- Weather. Your selection is what fills the Alerts tab on the Weather screen. That tab rechecks your zones roughly once a minute while you are looking at it, and you can pull down to refresh immediately.
- Zone Alert Detail. Tapping a zone row on the Alerts tab opens Zone Alert Detail, which lists the headline, full text and dates of each active alert for that zone.
- Notifications. Following a zone is what makes its alerts reach you as push messages. Control what arrives from Notification Settings; past alerts are listed on Notifications.
- Map layers. Zones cover an area, so they pair naturally with the animated layers in Visualization mode on the Weather screen — the zone tells you what has been declared, the layer shows you the system behind it.
- Incidents. A weather warning for a zone you follow is the kind of thing worth noting against a running incident; see Command Weather Forecast.
- Offline and reconnect. A change made without a connection is held on the device and pushed to your account settings when the connection returns, so your other devices catch up.
Troubleshooting
| If this happens | What to do |
|---|---|
| The list is empty and the spinner has cleared | The zone list could not be downloaded. Reconnect and reopen the screen. |
| You cannot find your zone | Search by county or district name rather than a station name, or search by zone code if you know it. |
| A zone appears with no name | The official feed occasionally omits a name. Match it by its code instead. |
| Your ticks disappeared | You backed out without tapping Done. Reopen and tick them again, then tap Done. |
| The Alerts tab is still empty after saving | You may have unticked everything. Reopen this screen and confirm at least one zone is ticked. |
| Alerts are not arriving as notifications | Check that the zone is still ticked here, and check your Notification Settings. |
| A zone shows a count of zero | There are no active alerts for it at the moment. |
| The Alerts tab takes a long time to load | Each zone is checked separately. Following fewer zones makes it noticeably faster. |
| A colleague sees different zones | Zone selection is per account, not per agency. Each person picks their own. |
Related Pages
⬅️ Previous: Weather Details | Next: Zone Alert Detail ➡️