Support
How can we help?
Quick answers first. If yours is not here, send us a message.
Questions
Both apps
Are the apps free?
Lightning Near Me 1.0 is free: the live map, Storms, Hotspots, Compass and widgets. Hurricane: Storm Tracker is free too, with no ads and no account.
Are they warning or safety systems?
No. Lightning Near Me shows lightning that was detected; detection can be late, misplaced or missed. Hurricane: Storm Tracker shows what the National Hurricane Center, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center and the National Weather Service publish, and it can be late or incomplete. Nothing in either app means conditions are safe.
Official warnings come from your national weather service, and instructions from your local emergency management office. The Terms of Use for Lightning Near Me and Hurricane have the details.
How do I ask about my data?
Email [email protected], or write to us below and start with “Privacy request.” Your rights, and how long we keep your data, are in the Privacy Policy for Lightning Near Me and for Hurricane.
Lightning Near Me
Where does the data come from?
Two fleets of weather satellites, 22,236 miles up. NOAA’s GOES watches the Americas. EUMETSAT’s Meteosat watches Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Both carry cameras built to catch lightning, day and night.
Everything after that is ours. Our lightning engine checks each detection, groups strikes into storms and measures how far each one is from you and your places. Strikes usually reach your phone in about a minute over the Americas, and in a few minutes over Europe and Africa. Sometimes it takes longer.
How accurate is it?
Satellites see lightning from space, day and night, over land and sea. Where they place a strike is close, not exact, and some strikes are missed.
We check every detection before we show it. Treat each distance as a guide, not a measurement.
How do I delete my data?
Settings › Safety & data › Delete my data removes your places from our server at once. The Privacy Policy has the details.
Does it work outside the US?
In many places. The live map shows strikes that weather satellites detect over most of the Americas, Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Detection is less complete near the edges of each satellite’s view, and some places aren’t covered at all. The coverage map shows where. The app isn’t available in the European Union yet.
Hurricane: Storm Tracker
Where do the numbers come from?
Atlantic and Pacific hurricanes, their cones, arrival times and wind chances: the National Hurricane Center. Typhoons and cyclones elsewhere: the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Warnings and gusts: the National Weather Service. Radar and tides: NOAA.
Which storms does it cover?
Every tropical storm on Earth: hurricanes in the Atlantic and the Pacific, typhoons in the West Pacific, cyclones in the Indian Ocean and the Southern Hemisphere. Distance and Compass work anywhere. Watches, warnings and the hour-by-hour forecast for a place are for the United States. Storm history goes back to 1851 in the Atlantic.
How often does it update?
Every time the Hurricane Center updates, usually every 6 hours, more often as a storm nears land. You always see which advisory you’re looking at and when the next one is due.
Does it need Location Services?
No. Type any place. Turn it on and the app also measures from where you are.