Weather App With Severe Storm Alerts (Possible Hail Cores)

Contingencias is a weather app for Android and iOS that, besides the forecast and a radar and satellite map, alerts you when there is a storm near your location. Depending on its intensity, the alert reads “thunderstorm,” “severe storm, with possible hail cores” or “severe storm, with high hail risk.” It does not detect hail and does not promise any lead time: it tells you a storm is under way and how far away it is. The alerts are set up with Vigía, a Contingencias Premium feature.

What Contingencias does

• Weather forecast for your city.
• Radar and satellite: a worldwide weather map with rain, frost and lightning layers, refreshed about every 10 minutes. You can see it on the Contingencias radar.
• Vigía: personal alerts, by push notification or email, for your city or for each of your fields.

Severe storm alerts with possible hail cores

When a storm is nearby, Vigía sends you an alert with its distance. There are three possible texts, depending on the energy available in the atmosphere and how cold the cloud is:

• “Thunderstorm 5 miles (8 km) from Finca Maipú”: there is lightning nearby, but the available energy is low. It does not mention hail.
• “Severe storm 5 miles (8 km) from Finca Maipú, with possible hail cores”: the usual text when the available energy is high.
• “Severe storm 5 miles (8 km) from Finca Maipú, with high hail risk”: only if, in addition, the coldest part of the cloud is very cold; that temperature is measured only in the Americas.

By default the alert is triggered when the storm is within 25 km (about 15 miles) of your location, and you can change that radius. The alert is sent when there is lightning nearby; what data is used and how it fits together is explained in How Severe Storm Detection Works: Satellite, Lightning, CAPE.

What it does not do

• It does not detect hail. No satellite signal confirms hail at an exact spot; that is why we say possible hail cores or high risk, never confirmed hail.
• It does not promise lead time. The alert arrives when the storm is already under way near you.
• It does not replace official warnings from your country's weather service.
• 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 read a severe storm alert

The distance in the alert is the gap between the storm and your location (or your field). A larger radius warns you with the storm farther away, but produces more alerts; a smaller radius warns you with the storm closer and produces fewer. Choose according to what you need to protect and how long it takes you, because the real margin depends on how fast the storm is moving.

When you get an alert, follow the usual thunderstorm safety advice: move indoors, stay away from windows, do not shelter under trees and put your car under cover if you can do so safely.

Who it is useful for

For anyone who needs to decide quickly when a storm approaches: at home (the car, laundry on the line, pets), on a farm (machinery, livestock and outdoor work) or in a vineyard or orchard where hail can cause losses. Keep in mind that the alert does not replace the prevention measures you already use, such as hail nets or crop insurance.

Other alerts you can turn on in Vigía

• Lightning nearby: by default, a lightning strike within 10 km (about 6 miles) in the last 30 minutes.
• Frost: when moderate frost (class 2) or stronger is expected; the threshold can be adjusted.
• Strong wind: forecast gusts, up to two days ahead.
• Earthquake nearby: earthquakes of magnitude 4.5 or higher within 100 km (about 60 miles); it is a notice after the earthquake, not an early warning.
• There are also alerts for hurricanes or tropical storms, extreme heat and fire weather.

How to get started

1. Download Contingencias from Google Play or the App Store.
2. Turn on Premium, which includes Vigía.
3. Open Vigía, choose your city or field and turn on the “Severe storm” alert.
4. Adjust the radius or the channel (notification or email) if you need to.

More details in Vigía: personalized weather alerts.

Frequently asked questions

Does Contingencias detect hail?

No. It alerts you to storms with lightning nearby and tells you whether they may have hail cores or a high hail risk, but no satellite signal confirms hail at an exact spot.

How far in advance does it warn me?

There is no guaranteed lead time. The alert arrives when the storm is already close, with its distance, and the margin you have to act depends on how fast it moves and where you are.

Does it work outside the Americas?

Yes. 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). That is why, outside the Americas, the alert cannot reach “high hail risk.”