This update brings two major improvements to how NWSAlerts detects and delivers weather alerts: a live connection to the National Weather Service's own real-time data feed, and instant browser updates the moment something changes.

NWWS-OI Live Feed

Previously, NWSAlerts checked the NWS API on a fixed 30-second timer. Every alert you saw was up to 30 seconds old by the time it appeared. With this update, the server now maintains a persistent connection to NWWS-OI (the NWS's XMPP-based real-time product feed) — the same underlying data channel used by professional weather services.

The moment NWS issues any product, NWWS-OI pushes a notification to the server. The server immediately wakes up and fetches the latest alerts from the NWS API rather than waiting for the next poll cycle. This cuts average detection latency significantly, especially during active weather events when new products are issuing frequently.

The connection includes automatic reconnection, a silence watchdog (if no products arrive for 5 minutes the connection is assumed dead and re-established), and full status visibility in the admin panel.

Server-Sent Events (SSE) — Instant Browser Updates

Before this update, your browser refreshed the alert map every 15 seconds on a timer. Even if the server had new data sitting ready, you'd wait up to 15 seconds to see it.

With SSE, the server now pushes a notification directly to every open browser tab the instant it detects a change. No polling, no waiting. The page updates in under a second of the server finishing its fetch.

The connection is lightweight and automatic — if it drops, the browser reconnects within 10 seconds. The 15-second timer remains as a fallback.