Lightning Watch — Multi-Park

This is a planning aid, not an official all-clear. These parks use horn/strobe systems that predict lightning from the electrostatic field — they will often sound before the first strike exists for this page to see, and their all-clear runs on their own algorithm, not this 30-minute clock. The horn wins. Always.

One 15-second blast = stop. Three 5-second blasts = all clear.

Xweather API

Client ID

Client Secret

Free tier = 15,000 accesses/month. The /lightning endpoint bills at a 10× multiplier, so you get ~1,500 lightning queries per month. Adaptive polling below keeps you under that.

Rules

All-clear wait (minutes)

Default trigger radius (miles)

Standard is 30 minutes from the last strike within 10 miles. The clock restarts on every new strike inside the radius.

Heat

Alert metric

Bright-red threshold (°F)

Temperature comes from the National Weather Service — free, no key, no quota.
103°F heat index is the NWS "Danger" line, and NWS Melbourne (which covers Orlando) doesn't issue a Heat Advisory until the index hits 108. A 95°F air threshold will glow red on most summer afternoons here, which trains you to ignore it. Set it where it means something.
Note: Florida's Zachary Martin Act requires schools to measure WBGT on site. Heat index is not WBGT and does not satisfy that rule.

Polling & budget

Idle interval (minutes)

Active interval (seconds)

Hours per month you're actually on site

Watch hours per day when idle

Polls slowly (or not at all) by default and speeds up when strikes appear within 25 miles, any park is on delay, or you press On site. Keep the projection under 1,500 queries.

Parks

Get coordinates: open the park in Google Maps, right-click the field → click the lat/long to copy. Paste as separate lat and long. Optional widget URL embeds the facility's own Earth Networks display underneath the card.

Phone alerts (ntfy.sh) Topic name

Install the free ntfy app (iOS/Android), subscribe to this exact topic, and you'll get a push when a park goes on delay or clears. Pick something long and unguessable — topics are public.