Weather and Earthquake Alerts in One App: Contingencias

Contingencias is a weather app for Android and iOS with personal alerts, called Vigía (a Contingencias Premium feature), for severe storms, lightning, frost, strong wind, tropical storms and earthquakes. You choose the place (your city or a field) and the condition, and you get a push notification or an email. Here is what each alert does, and where it stops.

Storm and lightning alerts

The Severe storm alert is sent when there is lightning near you. Depending on the energy available in the atmosphere and on how cold the cloud top is, its text reads “thunderstorm,” “severe storm, with possible hail cores” or “severe storm, with high hail risk.” It does not detect hail and does not promise lead time. By default it is triggered within 25 km (about 15 miles). The Lightning nearby alert is the most immediate and the one that will sound most often: by default, a strike within 10 km (about 6 miles) in the last 30 minutes (the radius varies by crop for fields). See How Severe Storm Detection Works: Satellite, Lightning, CAPE.

Frost alerts

The Frost alert warns you before the night in which a moderate frost (class 2) or stronger is expected, for tonight or the next night. The threshold can be adjusted for your crop.

Strong wind alerts

The Strong wind alert is based on forecast gusts and warns you up to two days ahead when they are expected to exceed a threshold. The starting threshold is your city's own, calculated from your city's gust forecasts, with a minimum of 30 km/h (about 19 mph), and you can change it. It relies on forecasts, which can change.

Earthquake alerts

The Earthquake nearby alert notifies you of earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or higher within 100 km (about 60 miles) of your city or field (the starting values, which you can adjust). It looks at earthquakes recorded in the last few hours, so it is a notice after the earthquake and not an early warning. To make sense of the numbers, read Richter and Mercalli Scales; to prepare, see the earthquake emergency kit and what to do during and after an earthquake.

Other alerts

Vigía also includes alerts for hurricanes and tropical storms (when the center of circulation enters your area), extreme heat and fire weather (wind and humidity conditions that favor fire spread). You can also build custom conditions by combining variables such as temperature, wind, rain or ET0.

What the alert texts say

When you turn on an alert, the app spells out when it will fire. In plain words:

• Severe storm: a storm is within your chosen radius, and the text says whether it is a plain thunderstorm or may bring hail.
• Frost: a frost of class 2 or stronger is forecast, with a notice in the evening for tonight or tomorrow night.
• Strong wind: gusts above your city's threshold are expected, up to two days ahead.

Which alert for which situation

• At home: Lightning nearby and Severe storm.
• On a farm or in a vineyard: Frost, Severe storm and Strong wind, with the thresholds adjusted for each field.
• Where hurricanes or tropical storms are a risk: Hurricane or tropical storm.
• In seismic areas: Earthquake nearby, together with the kit and the guides linked above.

How the alerts are delivered

Each alert is set up per place and has its own threshold, which you can edit at any time. You choose whether it reaches you as a push notification, an email or both, and the push notification arrives even if the app is closed.

What the alerts are not

• They are not official warnings: for those, check your national weather and seismological services.
• They are not early warnings: storm and earthquake alerts arrive once the event is under way or recorded.
• The data depends on the region. In the Americas, lightning comes from the GLM (GOES satellite); in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, from the Lightning Imager on the MTG satellite (EUMETSAT). We measure cloud-top temperature only with GOES (the Americas).

How to get started

Download Contingencias, turn on Premium and open Vigía: choose your city or field, pick an alert and adjust its threshold. Learn more on the Vigía page and in Weather App With Severe Storm Alerts.

Frequently asked questions

Can I get alerts for more than one place?

Yes. Each alert is activated per place: your main city and each of your fields separately, each with its own threshold.

Do I get an alert before an earthquake?

No. Earthquakes cannot be predicted. The alert reaches you after the earthquake has been recorded.

Are the alerts free?

Vigía is included in Contingencias Premium.