Entity ids follow Home Assistant’s device plus name convention. A place named
Home is the device WxAlerts Home, so its entities start with
wxalerts_home_. The examples below use home; use your own place name.
Storm cells, per place
| Entity | State |
|---|---|
binary_sensor.wxalerts_home_storm_cell_approaching |
on while a storm cell threatens the place. Device class safety. |
sensor.wxalerts_home_storm_cell_eta |
Minutes until the cell arrives. Counts down between updates. Unknown with no storm. |
sensor.wxalerts_home_storm_cell_threat |
The threat level as an enum (below). none with no storm. |
When several cells threaten one place, the one with the highest threat drives all three, and the soonest arrival breaks a tie.
Attributes of storm_cell_approaching
| Attribute | Meaning |
|---|---|
eta_min |
Minutes to arrival. 0 when the cell has arrived, null when it is not moving. |
rung, rung_label |
The threat level as a number and in words, such as 40 and Thunderstorm Risk. |
threat |
The same level as the enum value of storm_cell_threat. |
prob_severe, prob_tor, prob_hail, prob_wind |
Probabilities in percent. |
speed_kmh, bearing_deg |
How fast and toward which compass bearing the cell is moving. |
distance_km |
Distance from the place. |
storm_id |
Stable id for the cell while it lives. |
episode |
open, escalate or update. |
updated_at |
When the server last refreshed the cell. |
storm_count |
How many cells threaten the place right now. |
feed_age_seconds |
Seconds since the WxAlerts server last reported in. |
Threat levels
storm_cell_threat is one of none, thunderstorm_risk,
thunderstorm_detected, tornado_risk, tornado_risk_high,
tornado_detected or tornado_confirmed, plus wind_outlook,
high_wind_detected, thunderstorm_outlook and tornado_outlook when the
server sends them.
NWS alerts, per place
| Entity | State |
|---|---|
binary_sensor.wxalerts_home_active_alert |
on when any NWS alert is live for the place’s county. Device class safety. |
sensor.wxalerts_home_highest_severity |
Extreme, Severe, Moderate, Minor or None. |
sensor.wxalerts_home_active_alerts |
The count, with the full list in the alerts attribute. |
sensor.wxalerts_home_top_alert |
The most urgent alert by name. A warning outranks a watch. |
binary_sensor.wxalerts_home_tornado_warning |
One per alert type picked in the options. |
Each entry in the alerts attribute of active_alerts has event,
event_type, severity, urgency, certainty, headline, instruction,
onset, ends and vtec. The per type binary sensors carry the same fields
for their own type, plus alert_count. top_alert carries event_type,
severity, headline, instruction, onset, ends and alert_count.
A place with no US county (offshore, or outside the US) still gets storm cells; its alert entities show as unavailable.
Account device
The device named WxAlerts:
| Entity | State |
|---|---|
sensor.wxalerts_feed_age |
Seconds since the WxAlerts server last reported in. Keeps rising if it goes quiet. |
binary_sensor.wxalerts_connected |
The connection to the broker. |
Map markers
Each live alert with a shape becomes a geo_location entity at the centre of
its polygon, with the polygon in the geometry attribute. Add a Map card
and pick wxalerts as a geolocation source to draw them. They disappear when
the alert ends.
Events
| Event | Fires when | Data |
|---|---|---|
wxalerts_storm_cell |
A storm cell episode opens or escalates for a place | episode (open or escalate), place_id, place_name, storm_id, eta_min, rung, rung_label, threat, the four probabilities, speed_kmh, bearing_deg, distance_km, issued_at, updated_at |
wxalerts_alert |
A new NWS alert is issued for a place | place_id, place_name, event, event_type, severity, headline, instruction, onset, ends |
wxalerts_hazard |
An alert type begins or ends for a place | place_id, place_name, event_type, event, action (begin or end), severity, headline, ends |
None of these fire for what is already in effect when Home Assistant starts or reconnects, so a restart never announces a warning twice. Use the entities when you also want to catch something that was already live.
Device triggers
Pick a place device in the automation editor. Every NWS alert type is listed as
begins and ends, plus Storm cell approaching (storm_cell_open) and
Storm cell threat escalates (storm_cell_escalate).