In past article, we have looked into how important being alerted to severe weather conditions can be. In this post, I wanted show you how to be prepared when you are away from your PC or Mac. It is actually not as difficult as you might expect and more important, the information you will be receiving is timely, accurate and in some instances - could save your life.

Just when you need to know.

SMS messaging (text messaging) has become something of a lifestyle for much of the younger mobile users out there. Yet considering severe weather hits people in all age groups, I believe becoming more familiar with SMS to be a sound, economical way to stay safe.

When it counts:

Think back to my tornado experience. Now consider what it would have been like had I been in its path, totally unaware of the threat? What if more funnels develop and due to the lack of any real public warning system, I happen to be taking the dog for a walk or mowing my lawn? Because I choose to subscribe to WeatherBug Mobile Alerts, I will not find myself becoming a headline in the local paper next time we see dangerous weather conditions.

As soon as an alert regarding severe weather has been announced, WeatherBug Mobile Alert sends me an SMS that will inform me so I can decide if there is any danger.

But sometimes the alerts are just not enough.

Being signed up for some kind of mobile weather alert system is important for anyone. The only possible exception is if you live “inside” NORAD (yes, they still do monitor the weather) or in space, where the weather would be less of a concern. In situations where the alerts seem otherwise benign, such as non-precipitation warnings, it is helpful to have the ability to use WeatherBug Mobile Weather to better evaluate both the current condition, along with a seven day forecast.

When it counts:

You are driving a long distance, getting ready to head into an unknown area of the state. You did not think to check for a weather report for this region and of course, knowing if there are any severe weather conditions within the area is key when driving long distances - ask any truck driver. Using WeatherBug Mobile Weather, you are able to remotely and quickly, check to see what the latest conditions happen to be in the town you just drove into.

As luck would have it you are tired and are considering staying in a motel for the night. But it is cold out and you are not sure whether or not snow is a consideration in this part of the country. Using WeatherBug’s Mobile Weather again, you check the forecast to see what tomorrow is going to look like and before heading off to sleep. Good news, according the forecast, there is no expected snow until a few days after you are leaving town.

On a side note, the Verizion/WeatherBug partnership takes this one step further with live, video forecasts and local weather.

In a hurry, need the forecast for a new town NOW!

One of the best things to come to land line phones and mobile phones alike is the invention of speed dial. On the mobile front, it is key and I am going to share with you one reason why it is great when needing your weather info immediately - no time for slow mobile web browsers to load. You have a speed dial for SMS set to 46284 or “GoBug”.

This is where access to WeatherBug Mobile On-Demand comes in. Think of it as a reverse of WeatherBug Mobile alerts as you enter the zip code of the location you are making a query about and instantly - you have the local weather info or forecast.

When it counts:

You woke up from your slumber at the motel from the night before and it looks like despite the forecast, the weather did a fast one and has taken a change for the worst. Hey it happens.

Your more advanced phone used the day before is sitting there with a dead battery. Luckily, you have your wife’s phone as she came along and she is a subscriber to WeatherBug Mobile On-Demand. Her phone is older, without any advanced functionality, but SMS works great. You quickly send the letter T to the zip for the town you are staying in and send it to 46284 from her speed dial menu. Bam- you receive a report stating that the weather should still be alright for travel. And since the weather alerts sent to your now dead mobile phone would have been missed, the on-demand service just paid for itself instantly.