Data & methodology

StormMarker obtains National Weather Service (NWS) Local Storm Reports (LSRs) through Iowa Environmental Mesonet. These are reports received and published by meteorological offices—not a continuous measurement of every property.

Data window and geometry

The public lookup requests reports from the previous 72 hours and filters reported points by straight-line distance from a ZIP-code center. The ZIP center is provided by Zippopotam.us and may differ from a specific customer location.

Completeness and accuracy

Unreported events, delayed reports, inconsistent classifications, and events outside a selected radius may not appear. Measurements may be absent or estimated; report coordinates may be approximate. A nearby report does not prove building damage, a hail swath, or a verified sales lead.

Alerts

Email alerts depend on successful scheduled checks and email delivery. They are not suitable for emergency decisions. Always check weather.gov for official NWS watches and warnings.

Attribution

Storm reports: NWS LSRs distributed by Iowa Environmental Mesonet. Map data: © OpenStreetMap contributors. StormMarker is independent of NOAA and NWS.