SKYWARNAL being Examined by the NWS

[Austin M.]

I received a tweet this morning on the SKYWARNAL Storm Center's wall.

@skywarnal @skywarnalsc Please know that you are imitating a government supported EMERGENCY ENTITY. I will be in contact with authorities.

I just got off the phone with the NWS in Tallahassee, they said that they would take a look at everything and would give me a straight-forward answer on whether it is illegal or not. As long as I am not imitating the NWS, SPC, NHC, or NOAA (their)selves, I should be fine.

See for yourselves at www.skywarnal.com and www.twitter.com/skywarnal.

[twcclassics]

That guy is full of it and trying to intimidate you. He is not going to contact the "authorities." If Wikipedia can use NOAA/NWS images without participating in copyright infringement, so can you.

[Eric]

Who is this @treyb79?  I agree - it sounds like he's trying to intimidate you.

So long as they're properly credited and you're not pretending to be affiliated with an organization that you're not a part of, you should be able to use any NOAA-produced maps.

[phw115wvwx]

Because NOAA and the NWS are federal government agencies, anything released online is considered as public domain and free to use.  You just need to add disclaimers that you're not part of NOAA and the NWS, and you should give credit to those agencies for the maps, forecasts, and warnings you publicize online.

[Mr. Rainman]

Yeah, you're fine. That guy is an idiot. Ignore him.

[P71nnacle]

Being that I worked as an intern at the NWS, I doubt anyone there would care about you releasing warnings. Actually, candidly, if it would help people get the warning better, I think they would be all for it. (As an aside, this was one of the reasons why I didn't want NWS' duties being privatized. Imagine if AccuWeather copyrighted all warnings issued )

[TWCToday]

Don't worry about it! Until you get in the mail a legitimate cease and desist order you are fine. Guy is just being a jerk

[Eric]

Imagine if AccuWeather copyrighted all warnings issued

Please don't give me nightmares! 

[Austin M.]

We've got everything settled now, we are changing some stuff on the site so we are displaying only a plain message on the front page. We'll likely be online by the weekend.

[Mr. Rainman]

That's good news. Out of curiousity, what did your local NWS office have to say about it? I've never thought to have a weather website examined by a WFO, so I was wondering whether they complimented it or gave you recommendations?

[TWCToday]

That's good news. Out of curiousity, what did your local NWS office have to say about it? I've never thought to have a weather website examined by a WFO, so I was wondering whether they complimented it or gave you recommendations?

I am actually surprised they cared. As long as you weren't impersonating the NWS I don't see why they even would bother

[Austin M.]

That's good news. Out of curiousity, what did your local NWS office have to say about it? I've never thought to have a weather website examined by a WFO, so I was wondering whether they complimented it or gave you recommendations?

They really were amazed that I had such a website and I was providing the information I was (at the time), but they never really said much about the website itself.

To everyone: I have been cleared to have this website by the NWS, and have renewed the domain for another year. Thanks to everybody's support and the NWS, as well.