Storm Watch Screensaver
The Storm Watch screensaver is a live map of active U.S. severe-weather alerts — tornado, thunderstorm and flood warnings — glowing over their warning areas, straight from the key-less National Weather Service API. It's free, runs in your browser, and ESC exits.
How the Storm Watch screensaver works
The saver fetches the National Weather Service's live active-alerts feed, a public, key-less list of every warning in effect across the United States.
Each alert that includes a map shape is drawn as a translucent, gently pulsing polygon over its warning area on a world map.
Alerts are colored by type — tornado, thunderstorm, flood, winter — so the most dangerous ones stand out.
A live count and a scrolling ticker list the events and the areas they cover, refreshing every minute.
A worked example
During active weather the U.S. lights up with warning polygons — a red Tornado Warning over a county, blue Flood shapes along a river — each pulsing softly while the ticker reads off Severe Thunderstorm Warning — … beneath the map.
Settings & tips
- Show limits the map to severe & extreme alerts or includes all active alerts.
- Alert color sets the default glow for untyped alerts.
- Background sets the map backdrop.
Frequently asked questions
- Are these real warnings?
- Yes. They're live alerts from the U.S. National Weather Service, the same warnings issued to the public, refreshed every minute.
- Does it cover the whole world?
- The National Weather Service covers the United States and its territories, so alerts cluster there. The map is global but the warnings are U.S.
- Should I rely on this for safety?
- No. It's an ambient display — always follow official alerts and local guidance for real safety decisions.
- Does it need a key?
- No. The NWS alerts API is free and key-less; it only needs an internet connection.
- Is it free?
- Yes — free, no download, in your browser.