# NWS Weather Alerts Scraper (`parseforge/nws-weather-alerts-scraper`) Actor

Collects active National Weather Service watches, warnings, and advisories filtered by state code, marine zone, or severity. Returns each alert as a flat row with headline, description, affected areas, and expiration.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/parseforge/nws-weather-alerts-scraper.md
- **Developed by:** [ParseForge](https://apify.com/parseforge) (community)
- **Categories:** Automation, Integrations, News
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 90.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $7.50 / 1,000 results

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.
Since this Actor supports Apify Store discounts, the price gets lower the higher subscription plan you have.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

Actors are web data automations that power AI and operations. They run on the Apify platform to scrape websites, process data, connect APIs, and automate workflows.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.
Actors are written with capital "A".

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.
The best way to integrate Actors is as follows.

- **AI agents and MCP clients** — the [Apify MCP server](https://docs.apify.com/integrations/mcp.md) at `https://mcp.apify.com` (remote, streamable HTTP, OAuth on first use).
- **Agentic workflows and local Actor development** — [Agent Skills](https://apify.com/.well-known/agent-skills/index.json) with the [Apify CLI](https://docs.apify.com/cli/docs.md): `npm install -g apify-cli`, then `apify login`.
- **JavaScript/TypeScript projects** — the official [JS/TS client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md): `npm install apify-client`.
- **Python projects** — the official [Python client](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md): `pip install apify-client`.
- **Any other language** — the [REST API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2.md).

For usage examples, see the [API](#api) section below.

For more details, see Apify documentation as [Markdown index](https://docs.apify.com/llms.txt) and [Markdown full-text](https://docs.apify.com/llms-full.txt).

# README

[![ParseForge](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/ParseForge/apify-assets/main/banner.jpg)](https://apify.com/parseforge?fpr=vmoqkp)

### NWS Weather Alerts Scraper

**Scrape active weather alerts from the National Weather Service API, filtered by state, marine zone, or severity.** Every alert comes with its headline, description, affected areas, and expiration time. No API key required. Export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML.

The National Weather Service publishes real-time watches, warnings, and advisories through a public API, but querying it at scale and structuring the results for analysis takes work. This Actor reads the live alert feed, applies your area and severity filters, and returns each matching alert as a clean, flat record.\n\nIt is built for weather monitoring, emergency response dashboards, and historical alert archives.

| Who uses it | What they scrape National Weather Service for |
|---|---|
| Emergency managers | Monitor active watches and warnings for their jurisdiction in one feed. |
| Newsroom developers | Pull live severe weather headlines for on-air graphics and website widgets. |
| Insurance analysts | Track extreme weather events by region to correlate with claims data. |
| Logistics dispatchers | Filter winter storm and flood warnings along planned delivery routes. |

### What it does

This Actor collects active NWS weather alerts by state, marine zone, or severity and returns each one as a flat row.

- 📍 **Area filter:** restrict alerts to a single two-letter state code or a marine zone.
- ⚠️ **Severity filter:** return only Extreme, Severe, Moderate, Minor, or Unknown alerts.
- 📦 **Flat output:** every alert is a single row with headline, description, area, severity, and expiration, ready for spreadsheets.

Results export to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML, or straight from the API.

### What you can do with National Weather Service data

**📡 Build a local alert dashboard.**

An emergency operations center runs the Actor every five minutes for their state code and pipes new alerts into a public-facing map.

**📰 Feed a newsroom alert ticker.**

A TV station scrapes severe and extreme alerts for their coverage area and pushes the headlines to a lower-third graphics system.

**📊 Archive severe weather history.**

A researcher collects all extreme alerts nationwide each day and stores them for a long-term study on warning frequency.

**🚚 Reroute fleet operations.**

A logistics team filters winter storm warnings along I-80 and flags affected shipments before drivers depart.

### Why choose this scraper

| | What you get |
|---|---|
| **No API key** | Reads the public NWS alert feed directly with no registration. |
| **Live data** | Pulls the current set of active alerts on every run. |
| **Fixed schema** | Every alert arrives with the same fields, no matter the event type. |

### How it compares

No other Store actor targets National Weather Service the same way, so the honest comparison is with the alternatives teams actually weigh.

| | NWS Weather Alerts Scraper | Build it in-house | By hand |
|---|---|---|---|
| Setup | Run it now, zero config | Days of engineering | None, but hours per pull |
| When National Weather Service changes | Maintained for you | You fix it | You re-learn the page |
| Proxies, retries, anti-bot | Built in | Your problem | Browser only |
| Output | Fixed JSON schema, CSV/Excel export | Whatever you build | Copy-paste |
| Cost | Pay per result | Engineering time | Analyst hours |

### Configure the run

Drive the Actor from a state code or marine zone and an optional severity level, and filters run as each alert is read so only matches reach your dataset. The Input tab lists every parameter.

A first run with the defaults:

```json
{
 "maxItems": 10
}
```

A larger pull:

```json
{
 "maxItems": 200
}
```

### Pricing

Pay-per-result: **$0.0085 per result** collected. You pay only for the results written to your dataset.

| Results collected | Approximate cost |
|---|---|
| 100 results | $0.85 |
| 1,000 results | $8.50 |
| 10,000 results | $85.00 |

New Apify accounts start with $5 in free credit.

### Free users

Free-plan runs return up to 10 results as a preview. [Upgrade your Apify plan](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp) to collect up to 1,000,000 results per run.

### Run it

1. [Create a free Apify account with $5 in credit](https://console.apify.com/sign-up?fpr=vmoqkp).
2. Open the [NWS Weather Alerts Scraper](https://apify.com/parseforge/nws-weather-alerts-scraper?fpr=vmoqkp).
3. Set your inputs and any filters, then click **Start**.
4. Export the results as CSV, Excel, JSON, or XML from the **Dataset** tab.

Run it programmatically through the [Apify API](https://docs.apify.com/api/v2) (`run-sync-get-dataset-items`) or the [ApifyClient](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js) for JavaScript and Python.

### Use with AI agents (MCP)

Give an AI agent live access to National Weather Service through the Model Context Protocol. Add the Actor to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client:

```bash
claude mcp add --transport http apify "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=parseforge/nws-weather-alerts-scraper"
```

Then prompt it in plain language to run the scraper and read back the results.

### Troubleshooting

**Why am I getting no results?**

Check that your state code is a valid two-letter abbreviation (e.g. CA, TX) and that your severity filter is not too restrictive. Try removing all filters and running with a small maxItems to confirm the feed is reachable.

**The run finished but the dataset is empty.**

The NWS feed may have no active alerts matching your filters at this moment. Run again without the area and severity filters to see all current alerts nationwide.

**I entered a state code but got alerts from other states.**

The area filter matches alerts whose affected zones include that state. A single alert can cover multiple states. Review the affected areas field in each row to confirm coverage.

**The Actor is timing out.**

Lower the maxItems value or narrow your filters. The NWS feed can be large during major weather events, and requesting too many records may exceed the run timeout.

**Can I filter by alert type, like Tornado Warning?**

The input schema does not include an event type filter. Collect the full feed for your area and filter the dataset afterward on the event or headline field.

### FAQ

| Question | Answer |
|---|---|
| What is the data source for these alerts? | The Actor reads the public National Weather Service API, which returns all currently active watches, warnings, and advisories for the United States and its territories. |
| Do I need an API key or registration? | No. The NWS alert feed is open and does not require an API key, OAuth, or account registration. |
| Can I filter by county or city? | The input schema supports filtering by two-letter state code or marine zone. For finer geography, you can filter the full dataset after collection using the affected zones field in each alert row. |
| How often does the data refresh? | The Actor pulls the live feed on every run. Schedule it on Apify for intervals as short as every few minutes to keep your dataset current. |
| What severity levels are available? | You can filter by Extreme, Severe, Moderate, Minor, or Unknown, or leave the filter empty to receive all active alerts regardless of severity. |
| Does this include marine and coastal alerts? | Yes. You can enter a marine zone code in the area filter to pull coastal flood advisories, small craft advisories, and other marine warnings. |
| What export formats are supported? | You can export your results to CSV, JSON, Excel, or XML directly from the Apify dataset. |
| Can I get historical alerts? | This Actor returns only the currently active alerts. To build a historical archive, schedule regular runs and store the results in your own database. |
| How many alerts can I collect in one run? | You set the maximum with the 'Maximum alerts' field, up to 1,000,000 per run. The Actor stops when it reaches that limit or when no more active alerts match your filters. |
| What does a flat row mean? | Each alert is returned as a single record with fields like headline, description, severity, and expiration. There are no nested objects, so the data loads directly into a spreadsheet or database table. |

### Related actors

Browse the full [ParseForge collection](https://apify.com/parseforge?fpr=vmoqkp) for more scrapers.

🆘 **Need help?** Email parseforge@protonmail.com with your run ID, your input, and what you expected.

⚠️ **Disclaimer.** This Actor is unofficial and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by National Weather Service. It collects only publicly available data. You are responsible for using the collected data in compliance with the source's terms of service and applicable data-protection laws, including GDPR, CCPA, and PIPL. Do not use it to collect personal data unlawfully.

# Actor input Schema

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

How many weather alerts to collect per run.

## `area` (type: `string`):

Optional two-letter state code (e.g. CA, TX) or marine zone to filter.

## `severity` (type: `string`):

Optional severity filter.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "maxItems": 10
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `results` (type: `string`):

No description

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "maxItems": 10
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("parseforge/nws-weather-alerts-scraper").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = { "maxItems": 10 }

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("parseforge/nws-weather-alerts-scraper").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "maxItems": 10
}' |
apify call parseforge/nws-weather-alerts-scraper --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,parseforge/nws-weather-alerts-scraper"
        }
    }
}

```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/XJoV2LP4NZwvMkSuL/builds/xOnqZufHqZLvkYssh/openapi.json