Full feature list
Everything in Spotter Tools Pro
Six categories. One app. Everything below ships in the current build — tap a deep-dive link for more on radar and alerts.
GPS & Beacon
Spotter Network Beacon
Transmit your position so the NWS and fellow spotters know where you are during severe weather.
Foreground & background beacon
A persistent foreground service keeps the beacon alive even when the screen is off, with a status notification you can tap to return to the map.
Configurable upload interval
Choose how often the app pushes your position to Spotter Network — balance accuracy against battery.
Auto-restart on boot
Optional boot receiver brings the beacon back automatically after a device reboot so you never forget to turn it back on.
Encrypted credential storage
Your Spotter Network application ID lives in encrypted device storage — never on a server we operate.
Battery optimization wizard
Built-in, device-specific instructions for Samsung, Xiaomi, OnePlus, Pixel, and more — so the OS doesn't kill the beacon in the background.
Map & Layers
The Map
A Mapbox-rendered tactical view with every layer a spotter needs — toggle exactly what's on screen.
Active spotter markers
See every other Spotter Network beacon on the map with callsigns, vehicle info, and status.
NWS warnings & watches
Tornado, severe thunderstorm, flash flood, and fire warnings as full polygons — plus tornado / severe watch boxes.
SPC storm reports
Today's SPC tornado, hail, and damaging-wind reports plotted in real time.
SPC mesoscale discussions
Short-fuse SPC forecast areas (MCDs) overlaid as polygons with full discussion text on tap.
Convective outlooks
Day 1 and Day 2 outlooks — Categorical, Tornado, Wind, and Hail — switchable from a single sheet.
METARs
Live airport observations with selectable variables (temperature, dew point, wind, pressure, visibility) and unit pickers.
Map style picker
Switch between basemap styles to match the conditions and your preference.
Mapbox location search
Geocode addresses, towns, and landmarks to jump anywhere on the map instantly.
Radar
Single-Site & Composite Radar
Real, decoded NEXRAD Level 2 in your hand — plus a composite mosaic and a full animation transport.
NEXRAD Level 2 decoding
Reflectivity (BR), Velocity (BV), and Correlation Coefficient (CC) products decoded directly from raw Level 2 data — no third-party tile server.
Composite radar mosaic
CONUS-wide WMS composite for at-a-glance precipitation context, with selectable sources.
Full animation transport
Play, pause, scrub, change loop speed, and pick frame count — same controls you'd expect from a desktop radar app.
Custom GR2Analyst-style color tables
Sixteen built-in .pal palettes for BR, BV, and CC, plus drop-in import for your own .pal files.
Storm cell picker
Tap any storm cell on the radar to see its identifier and attributes pulled from the radar product.
Per-site selection
Pick the closest WSR-88D site automatically, or choose a specific site to focus on — useful when chasing the edge of coverage.
Alerts & Notifications
Smart Push Alerts
An on-device watch worker fires NWS warnings even when the app is closed — with the controls a chase op-center actually needs.
Background watch worker
A foreground service watches the NWS alerts feed and posts notifications without needing a cloud account.
Custom watch zones
Track your current location, a fixed home zone, custom counties / forecast zones, or any combination at once.
Filter modes (including Outbreak)
Choose between standard severity filtering or 'Outbreak' mode for active multi-state events where you want broader coverage.
Event-type filters
Per-event toggles for tornado warnings, severe thunderstorm warnings, flash flood, fire weather, and more.
Custom sound profile + DND override
Bundled severe-alert tone or stock system sounds, with an option to bypass Do Not Disturb for the most critical events.
Full-screen Tornado Emergency takeover
On Android 14+, opt-in alarm-style full-screen intent for Tornado Emergencies and PDS warnings — wakes the screen even when locked.
Custom flash colors
Pick distinctive flash colors per alert tier so a tornado warning never looks like a flood advisory.
Significant report & MCD pings
Optional notifications when SPC posts a new mesoscale discussion or a high-tier storm report lands inside your zones.
Reporting
Severe Weather Reporting
File reports straight from the field — directly to Spotter Network, with the right metadata baked in.
All Spotter Network report types
Tornado, funnel cloud, wall cloud, hail, damaging wind, flooding, and damage — each with the right structured fields.
Photo attachments
Attach photos from the camera or gallery so your report carries verifiable visual evidence.
Reporting guidelines
Built-in reporting guidelines reference so you can submit a clean report under pressure.
Local report history
Every report is saved to a local SQLite database for your own records — even when offline.
Browse SPC reports on the map
Toggle today's SPC tornado / hail / wind reports as map markers and tap any of them for full detail.
Customization & Setup
Set It Up the Way You Like
Spotter Tools Pro is opinionated about defaults but gives you control over the things that matter.
Guided onboarding
A four-step setup walks you through permissions, map data, and the beacon so you're operational the first time you open it.
Searchable settings
A sticky search field at the top of Settings filters every control on the page — find a toggle in seconds.
Connection status indicator
An always-visible chip on the map shows whether you're online, on cellular, or offline.
Active spotter info sheets
Tap any active spotter to see their callsign, vehicle, and last update without leaving the map.
No accounts, no analytics
Nothing you do is sent to a server we operate. Beacon goes to Spotter Network, weather data comes from NWS / SPC / Mapbox — that's it.
More to explore
Bonus details
A few extra views that don't fit neatly in the categories above.
METARs — live airport temperatures across the country
Switch the METAR variable — temp, wind, dew point, and more
Single-site radar, composite, and METARs in one sheet
Pick the day, hazard, and visual style for SPC outlooks
Built-in SN reporting guidelines so reports stay clean