Get Local Weather Alerts 24/7 On My Social Media Sites & Sent Directly To Your Phone!

If you follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Google+ (or maybe on all 3), you've noticed I've been doing a LOT of testing lately to figure out the best way to have local weather alerts auto-post to my social media.  The good news is, I finally have things set up.  It's not ideal (you have to click a link or view summary in Twitter to see specifics), but as I've found this is the only way to post quickly and to all 3 social media sites.

Basically, I have local alerts published to a Tumblr blog for the 20 counties inside the orange line in the picture above and those posts are forwarded to Facebook, Twitter, and Google+.  When the alerts are passed along to Facebook, Twitter, and Google+, they will look something like this:

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More detailed information is available by clicking the link in the post.  This will direct you to the blog post for the alert in Tumblr, a blogging site.

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If you didn't see the summary for the weather alert (if you're on Facebook or Google+), you will now see a summary giving the counties in the alert and when the alert expires.  For more information, you can click on the "iNWS Alert" title near the top of the post to get more detailed information about the alert (similar to what you would see in a scroll at the bottom of your screen on WDTV or WVFX).

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The more detailed look shows a map of the area affected and gives more specifics below it.

Overall, it's pretty simple...you just have to remember that there are 2 links to click...1 in the social media post and 1 on the Tumblr post after you click the first link (if you want more detailed info).

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The cool thing about it being set up this way too is that you can easily receive these weather alerts directly on your smartphone or tablet via an RSS Reader with Push Notifications (don't let that scare you off, I have more instructions on setting it all up below).  iPhone users now receive weather alerts on their phones automatically, but they usually don't have very detailed info so the advantage to what I'm about to show you is that you can get the weather alert immediately after it is issued AND have a link to get more detailed information on it.

This works great on Android devices (I have personally tested it) and should work fine on iPhones, iPads, and iPods.  Theoretically, there is likely a way to do this on Blackberry and Windows Phone too, although I don't have enough experience with either to give a detailed tutorial (but maybe someone can help me out with that!).

Android:

1. Download and install the RSS reader "RSS Junkie" from the Google Play store: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bitpowder.rssjunkie&hl=en

2. Once installed, open the program

3. Click the menu button (3 vertical dots) on the top right of the screen

4. Choose "Add Feed..."

5. Select "Manually add a feed address"

6. Type in the following: http://piercelegeion.tumblr.com/rss

7. Click "Add".

- This has added the weather alerts feed to the program.  Now, you'll want to make sure the program is set up to receive push notifications.

8. Click the menu button (3 vertical dots) on the top right of the screen

9. Select "More..." then "Preferences..."

10. Under "Notification Preferences", click "Enable Notifications", then select which types of notifications you'd like to receive (Vibrate, LED, and/or Notification sound).

- You're now set up to automatically be notified any time there is a weather alert in the area and will be able to click on the notification to see more information!

iOS (iPhone, iPad, iPod):

1. Download and install the RSS reader "Blogkeen" from the app store: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/blogkeen-rss-reader-for-blogs/id437002915?mt=8

2. Once installed, open the app.

3. Click the "More" tab at the bottom right of the screen.

4. In the search field, enter the following: http://piercelegeion.tumblr.com/rss

5. Select "Weather Alerts" and follow prompts to add to reader.

6. Go into the settings for the app and make sure push notifications are enabled or selected (sorry, I don't have an iOS device to test this out totally)

If you have any questions or if there is anything I missed, please let me know.  This is a service for you guys so I will do my best to work out any kinks that may still be left.  Also, if you have better instructions for getting the RSS feed going on iOS, Blackberry, or Windows Phone, please feel free to share with me.  Thanks!