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@StewAlexander-com StewAlexander-com released this 05 Dec 01:13
· 31 commits to main since this release
v1.0.0
d20be04

🎉 Initial Release - v1.0.0

Release Date: December 2024
Status: 🟢 Stable

🌩️ MebaneWeather.com - Enhanced Severe Weather Dashboard

The first official release of the MebaneWeather.com severe weather dashboard - a sophisticated, real-time weather monitoring system designed specifically for Mebane, North Carolina (Alamance County).

✨ Key Features

🛡️ Smart Threat Assessment

  • Four-tier threat classification system with priority-based evaluation
    • ⚠️ WARNING: Active weather warnings (including winter weather)
    • ⚡ CAUTION: Elevated severe weather risk (SPC Enhanced/Moderate/High)
    • ❄️/□ MONITOR: Winter weather advisories, SPC Marginal/Slight risk
    • ✅ SAFE: No severe weather expected

🔧 Core Functionality

  • ⚡ SPC Threat Integration: Real-time Storm Prediction Center risk levels via GIS spatial analysis
  • 🎯 Location-Specific: Precision targeting for Mebane, NC (36.096°N, -79.267°W)
  • 📱 Mobile Responsive: Optimized for all device sizes
  • 🔄 Auto-Refresh: Updates every 15 minutes with 3-minute alert polling
  • 🖱️ Interactive Panels: Clickable sections linking to official NWS/SPC sources

❄️ Winter Weather Detection

  • Comprehensive synonym dictionary for winter weather alerts
  • Alert-based detection from NWS warnings and advisories
  • Forecast discussion text analysis for winter weather keywords
  • Winter-specific threat messages:
    • Warnings: "Winter Precipitation Imminent and/or Occurring"
    • Advisories: "Monitor for Winter Conditions"

📝 Intelligent Forecast Summarization

  • Extracts key severe weather highlights from NWS Area Forecast Discussions
  • Scoring algorithm prioritizing hazard keywords, severity indicators, and timeframes
  • Dual fallback strategy: NWS API → HTML scrape

🔒 Robust Error Handling

  • Timeout protection (8-10 seconds) on all API calls
  • Fallback strategies:
    • Alerts: Zone-specific → Statewide fallback
    • Forecast Discussion: NWS API → HTML scrape fallback
    • SPC Data: Graceful degradation to SAFE status
  • Independent error handling per data source
  • Comprehensive response validation

🧪 Comprehensive Testing

  • 34 automated tests covering all core functionality
    • SPC Risk Mapping (7 tests)
    • Threat Level Calculation (7 tests)
    • Alert Processing (3 tests)
    • Winter Weather Detection (11 tests)
    • Error Handling (4 tests)
  • Multiple test runners: Python (primary), Node.js (optional), Browser-based
  • 100% pass rate

🚀 Installation

Quick Install (Weebly):

  1. Log into Weebly Editor → Drag "Embed Code" element to page
  2. Copy entire code from Severe-Weather-Dashboard.html
  3. Paste into Custom HTML box → Click "Update" → Publish

Other Platforms: WordPress, Squarespace, Wix, Static HTML, GitHub Pages

⚙️ Configuration

Easily customizable for any location via the LOCATION_CONFIG object:

  • Geographic coordinates
  • NWS zone code
  • State code
  • NWS office identifier
  • Location display name

See README.md for detailed customization instructions.

🔧 Technical Architecture

API Integrations:

  1. SPC GIS MapServer - Storm threat polygons via point-in-polygon spatial analysis
  2. NWS Alerts API - Zone-specific alerts with statewide fallback (includes winter weather detection)
  3. NWS Forecast Discussion - AFD with intelligent text processing (includes winter weather keyword detection)

Update Cycle:

  • Full Refresh: Every 15 minutes
  • Fast Alert Polling: Every 3 minutes
  • Visibility Refresh: Updates when browser tab regains focus

📦 What's Included

  • Severe-Weather-Dashboard.html - Complete dashboard (single file, self-contained)
  • README.md - Comprehensive documentation
  • run_tests.py - Python test runner (primary)
  • run-tests.js - Node.js test runner (optional)
  • run-tests.sh - Shell wrapper for auto-detection
  • test-dashboard.html - Browser-based interactive test suite

🌐 Browser Compatibility

Supported: Chrome, Firefox, Safari (iOS 12+), Edge - Full desktop & mobile support
Not Supported: IE 11 (requires ES6+, Fetch API, CSS Grid, AbortController)

📊 Development Milestones

This release represents months of development with the following major milestones:

  • ✅ Initial dashboard with SPC threat integration
  • ✅ NWS alerts integration with fallback strategies
  • ✅ Intelligent forecast discussion summarization
  • ✅ Comprehensive error handling and resilience
  • ✅ Location configuration system
  • ✅ Winter weather detection
  • ✅ Comprehensive test suite (34 tests)
  • ✅ Full documentation

📝 Documentation

Complete documentation available in README.md including:

  • Installation & Configuration
  • Customization Guide
  • Troubleshooting
  • Testing Instructions
  • Browser Compatibility
  • API Integration Details

🤝 Contributing

We welcome contributions! Please see README.md for guidelines.

📜 License

MIT License - See LICENSE file for details

🔗 Links

🙏 Acknowledgments

  • NOAA/National Weather Service
  • Storm Prediction Center
  • Weebly Platform

⚠️ IMPORTANT: This dashboard is for informational purposes only. For official warnings and emergency information, consult: National Weather Service, Emergency Alert System, Wireless Emergency Alerts, Local Emergency Management, Storm Prediction Center

Built with ❤️ for the Mebane, NC community

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