SkyMonitor v1.2.5

SkyMonitor Privacy Policy (October 2026)

Who runs SkyMonitor?

SkyMonitor is run by chicagoeas on GitHub. You can visit me here: https://github.com/chicagoeas. SkyMonitor is a hobby weather website I have been working on for a while now.

What information does SkyMonitor use?

As you have already noticed from using the site, SkyMonitor uses your current location ONLY if you provide us access to it (you can still use SkyMonitor perfectly fine if you deny location permissions), and we use your current location to provide you with the most accurate, precise information for your exact location. SkyMonitor uses the Weather Underground PWS network for current conditions, which has many PWS (Personal Weather Stations) around the world. You can check out the official website for WU’s PWS network here: https://www.wunderground.com/pws/overview. This is one of the major benefits of using SkyMonitor, as every time you check current conditions, you see real observations from physical weather stations around the globe, not just model estimates or far-away airport observations. (Though it should be noted that the current weather, for example, whether it’s sunny, cloudy, or rainy, does use either your nearest airport or a model estimate, as WU PWS’s do not provide that kind of information.)

What other features on the site use your location?

The other two features on SkyMonitor that use your location data are push notifications and user reporting. When you enable push notifications (which can only be done if you have added the website to the home screen on your phone; this can not be done just through the web browser), every time you open SkyMonitor, we ping your location to check if any notifications need to be sent to you. SkyMonitor can only use your location when it is open on your phone, as PWAs (websites added to your home screen) cannot request background location access. When you submit a user report, your exact location is not published as the report location. The report marker is adjusted before submission and is set to anywhere within around 500 feet (or 150 meters) of your location. There is also a separate feature called “Privacy Mode” that you can enable, which will instead send reports from the center of your nearest named neighborhood or community area when one is available; otherwise, the center of your city or town, for extra privacy. The report pin that is shown on the map reflects where your report will be sent from. You will then be prompted to choose a category for the user report, and you can optionally add any extra information about the report you are making in the text box provided, as well as attach an image of whatever you are reporting. (Note that these images are automatically stripped of any metadata, so there is no worry of anybody accessing the GPS coordinates of your photo.)

What does SkyMonitor store on your browser?

SkyMonitor stores your settings, selected locations, notification preferences, and cached weather information on your browser. The reason we store this is so that every time you visit SkyMonitor from the same device, you won’t have to change your settings to how you like them every time. We also cache weather information, as SkyMonitor can actually be used completely offline, provided you have added it to the home screen on your phone.

What external services does SkyMonitor use?

SkyMonitor runs entirely on Cloudflare services for the frontend and backend of the website. We also use it to protect against bots with Cloudflare’s CAPTCHA verification. You can see Cloudflare’s privacy policy here: https://www.cloudflare.com/privacypolicy/. We also use OpenStreetMap for the map information you see on the live reporting map and tropical tracker, which you can visit here: https://www.openstreetmap.org/.

Contact

You can email me at [email protected]. To report a bug, simply click the “Report Bugs” link in the website footer.

Thank you so much for using SkyMonitor. I really hope you enjoy using it, and I am always open to feedback or suggestions if you have any.

Last updated: October 27th, 2026

About SkyMonitor Custom Alerts

What are SkyMonitor custom alerts?

SkyMonitor custom alerts are weather or civil alerts that are issued by trusted SkyMonitor users and are meant to mimic the style of real NWS alerts. Custom alerts are NOT official NWS products.

Can I trust SkyMonitor custom alerts?

You should never completely trust a SkyMonitor custom alert as you would a real NWS one. They are not issued by meteorologists or experts. However, they are useful for tracking specific storms and what they are capable of producing, even if there is too low a probability for the NWS to rely on. For example, a storm might have a probable chance of producing a tornado; however, the NWS thinks that chance is too low or even misses the chance entirely, which can happen, although rarely, and therefore a SkyMonitor custom alert could let you know of the possible danger. There are also situations where SkyMonitor custom alerts can come a few minutes or even multiple minutes BEFORE the NWS issues one; for example, a SkyMonitor custom Severe Thunderstorm Warning could come slightly before the NWS’s actual Severe Thunderstorm Warning.

Is there a quality-checking system behind the issuance of SkyMonitor custom alerts?

If any of the alerts issued by our trusted users are deemed inaccurate or misleading, that person may lose their privilege to issue custom alerts. You can report a specific alert by clicking the report button on its alert card. You can then describe why the alert should be reviewed. If a report is shown to be misleading or inaccurate, we will remove the alert and take action on its issuer.