Why should I Register For Text Message Weather Alerts?
Whether you are planning to watch a World Cup game on the patio at your favorite restaurant, running a quick errand to Hobby Lobby or loading up the RV to head out to this weekend’s NASCAR race — the weather could make or break your plans. Is that patio covered enough to keep out the rain during the big soccer game? Do you need to bring your umbrella and your child’s rain boots for tomorrow’s errands? Don’t forget your sunscreen for the blistering hot weather at the race track.
It’s so easy these days to check the weather on our phones or with a quick Google search — but even with the capability to do it so easily, sometimes we forget. I’ve been caught without an umbrella before haven’t you? Yeah, I know I should keep it in my car but every time I use it I leave it on my back porch to dry off and then it gets put away in the closet and then the next time it rains… well you get the picture.
Dallas’s local ABC affiliate, WFAA Channel 8 News, has been teaming up with Pocketstop to bring those in the Dallas area scheduled daily text message weather alerts to your phone so you’ll never have to worry about getting caught in the rain again. The service is provided at no charge to subscribers (standard text messaging and data rates may apply depending on your service provider and plan). The daily weather alert can be customized to be sent every day of the week or on weekdays or weekends only. The time the weather alert is delivered can also be customized to your schedule (you can select any hour from 5am to noon). Customizing your preferences is easy. You’ll receive a link when you sign up for the weather alerts that you can click on your mobile device or you can type the URL into a web browser on another internet connected device.
Want to try it out for yourself?
Text FORECAST to 48411 to start receiving your very own text message weather alerts.
With the heat of the summer here and lots of outside activities planned — having a daily weather alert will let you know if you need to adjust your plans depending on how Mother Nature is feeling.
Want the technical details? Pocketstop’s text message platform runs on Microsoft Azure — Microsoft’s cloud-computing platform. The weather alert service uses Pocketstop’s REST API and works with an RSS feed that is received from WFAA. The client database has grown quite large and on average 600,000 messages are sent every month.
WFAA text message weather alertsare a super easy and convenient way to find out if today will bring rain, sleet, snow or sun. Text FORECAST now and start receiving your very own customized weather alerts.
Fun Facts
The most popular text message weather alerts delivery time is 7am (which is also the default time).
The weather alert provides a short forecast for “TODAY” and “TONIGHT” including variables such as high and low temperatures and wind speed.
You can opt-out as easy as you opt-in by replying “STOP”.
TAGS: Text Messaging Weather Alerts | Text Message | WFAA | Channel 8 | Dallas
