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Forecast Products Overview

LMKwhen supports threshold-based alerting on NWS gridded forecast data via the National Digital Forecast Database (NDFD). Forecasts are extracted per location at ingest time and evaluated against your configured thresholds.

Available products

ProductUnitDescription
Heat RiskIndex 0–4NWS experimental heat risk index
Snow AccumulationinchesDaily snowfall total
Wind SpeedmphSustained 10-meter wind speed daily max
Wind GustsmphMaximum 3-second wind gust daily max
Apparent Temp (high)°FDaily max apparent (feels-like) temperature
Apparent Temp (low)°FDaily min apparent (feels-like) temperature
Temperature (high)°FDaily max dry-bulb temperature
Temperature (low)°FDaily min dry-bulb temperature
Ice AccumulationinchesIce accumulation (seasonally available)

Forecast days

Each product covers up to 3 forecast days:

  • Day 1 — today's forecast
  • Day 2 — tomorrow's forecast
  • Day 3 — forecast for the day after tomorrow

Day boundaries follow NDFD convention: 06:00 UTC, not midnight. See NDFD Gridded Forecast Alerts for a full explanation.

Alert behavior

When a forecast value crosses your threshold for a given day, an alert fires. If a later forecast update worsens the value, a new alert fires. If the forecast improves and drops below your threshold, an all-clear is sent.

Each alert tracks forecast continuity — upgrades, downgrades, and reconfirmed values are all recorded in the alert timeline.

Polygon and circle locations

For polygon or circle locations, NDFD values are sampled at the centroid of the shape. Accuracy decreases as polygon size increases. A warning is shown in the alert rule wizard when any in-scope location is a polygon or circle.