# Before It Strikes: Lightning — Storm Alerts, Radar & Safety > Severe weather alerts and lightning prediction with real-time radar. (iPhone/iPad app by Cody Negri.) - Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/before-it-strikes-lightning/id6783021228 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`) - Developer: [Cody Negri](https://appshunter.io/developer/428171414) - Category: Weather - Price: Free - Rating: 5.00/5 from 7 App Store ratings · 3 written reviews indexed - Age rating: 4+ - Requires: iOS 17.0 · 37 MB - Languages: American English - Released: 2026-07-10 - Data updated: 2026-10-10 - Monetization: free - User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/before-it-strikes-lightning/id6783021228/reviews.md ## What is Before It Strikes? Severe weather, before it happens. You shouldn't find out about a storm when the first bolt hits. Before It Strikes watches the sky for you — pushing official National Weather Service warnings the instant they're issued, tracking storms headed your way, and counting down exactly when it's safe to go back outside. Free. Nationwide. Built for anyone who has to make the call to head inside. -Lightning safety countdown When lightning strikes within 10 miles, a 30-minute timer starts — and resets with every nearby strike, just like the 30-30 rule the pros use. When it reaches zero, you're clear. It lives right on your Lock Screen and Apple Watch. -Official NWS alerts, instantly Tornado, severe thunderstorm, and flash-flood warnings straight from the National Weather Service — for home, the lake house, the kids' school, anywhere you save. With a live expiration countdown, plain-English guidance, and every affected county. - Hi-res 3D radar Crisp, smooth radar you can tilt into 3D and zoom to your own street. 150+ live radar sites, nationwide — pan to any storm in the country. - Storm Center One screen that reads the sky: a 1–5 threat level, live lightning rate, the nearest strike, the next-6-hour outlook, and local storm reports as they land. - See it coming A heads-up when a storm is overhead or heading your way — with tornado, wind, and hail threats in plain words, before the first bolt. - On your wrist The all-clear countdown mirrors to your Apple Watch as a glowing ring — a glance tells you whether it's safe to go back out. - Follows you Save every place you care about, or let it track wherever you are. Loud when it counts, silent when it doesn't. No subscription. No paywall on safety. Every feature, free. A note on safety Official National Weather Service warnings are always the source of truth. Some features — such as lightning prediction and storm scoring — are experimental situational awareness and should never be used in place of official warnings or lightning-safety guidance. When in doubt, seek shelter. ## Key features - Lightning safety countdown - Official NWS alerts - Hi-res 3D radar - Storm Center overview - Heads-up storm notifications - Apple Watch integration ## Recent user reviews (3 of 3) All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/before-it-strikes-lightning/id6783021228/reviews.md ### 5/5 — Great for athletic trainers! *2026-07-20* Being an athletic trainer who is responsible for the safety and wellbeing of athletes and coaches, this app is great! It does a great job notifying me of potential & incoming storms and lightning strikes so I can plan ahead and get my athletes to safety. Great job so far with the app! ### 5/5 — Reliable and easy to use *2026-07-14* Easy to use, straightforward, and thoughtfully designed. Everything is simple to navigate, and the layout makes it easy to find the information you need. I was especially impressed with its accuracy. It gave us timely lightning alerts, allowing us to warn our coaches to stay on alert and prioritize safety. A great app for anyone who needs reliable weather awareness. Highly recommend ### 5/5 — Easy to read, enjoyable to look at, and has been really accurate so far! *2026-07-11* Very easy to use and to understand, the design is really clean and unlike other weather apps I’ve used, and it gives just the right about of information needed to keep you informed. Looking forward to using this app as all the storms come in. ## Frequently asked questions about Before It Strikes ### What is the main purpose of Before It Strikes? Before It Strikes provides severe weather alerts and lightning prediction. It aims to inform users about storms before they happen, offering features like a lightning safety countdown and official National Weather Service warnings. ### Does Before It Strikes have ads? No, Before It Strikes is ad-free. The app is completely free to use with no advertisements. ### What devices does Before It Strikes support? Before It Strikes is available on Apple Watch, iPhone, and iPad. This allows users to receive weather information across multiple Apple devices. ### How does the lightning safety countdown work in Before It Strikes? When lightning strikes within 10 miles, a 30-minute timer starts. This timer resets with every nearby strike, indicating when it is safe to go back outside. It is also available on the Lock Screen and Apple Watch. ### Are the weather alerts from Before It Strikes official? Yes, Before It Strikes pushes official National Weather Service warnings instantly. These include tornado, severe thunderstorm, and flash-flood alerts for any saved location. ### What is the age rating for Before It Strikes? Before It Strikes has an age rating of 4+. This indicates it is suitable for a wide range of users, including children. ### How often is Before It Strikes updated? The latest version of Before It Strikes is 1.1, which was last updated on July 17, 2026. This suggests a relatively recent update, indicating ongoing development and support. ### Can I track storms anywhere with Before It Strikes? Yes, Before It Strikes allows you to save multiple locations or let it track your current location. You can also pan the hi-res 3D radar nationwide to view any storm in the country. ## Version history (last 5 releases) ### 2.2.1 — 2026-09-24 All Clear Outlook (for Precision users) When you are sheltering from lightning, you now see the chance that your shelter ends when the countdown reaches zero. For example: "55% chance the shelter ends at 11:39 AM." Tap it to see why, and what happens if lightning strikes within 8 miles again. The clock resets, and it is usually another hour or so before the shelter lifts. The outlook comes from our research on thousands of real storms across the country. It helps you decide whether to wait it out or change your plans. The 30-minute countdown and official safety guidance still decide when it is safe to go back outside. Also in this version: performance improvements and fixes. ### 2.2 — 2026-09-15 Choose your lightning network. Before It Strikes Pro uses satellite lightning detection with the full safety decision layer: shelter distances you set yourself, a shelter call built for your venue, the Strike Log, and Bolt, your AI safety assistant. Before It Strikes Precision adds the largest ground-sensor lightning network, so it tells ground strikes from in-cloud, alerts about a minute sooner, and warns of bolts from the blue. The Strike Log is included in both. Strike Log. Opens on the ten newest strikes with the approach chart right below, and loads more on demand. Every bolt is colored by the ring it landed in. Satellite-detected strikes are no longer labeled in-cloud — we only say what the detector can actually measure. Save a place by dropping a pin. Add the field, the school, or the lake house by placing a pin on the map. If location access is not set to Always, we now ask you to save a place, so alerts always go to somewhere real instead of wherever you last opened the app. Shelter countdown. The strike shown beside the timer is the one that restarted it, so the two never disagree. The clock also ticks smoothly, one second at a time. Apple Watch. The watch now shows the same verdict as your phone — Shelter, Prepare, or Monitor — in the same colors. A new complication puts the countdown, or the distance to the nearest strike, right on your watch face, and it stays current even when the phone app is closed. Free users. The 10-mile shelter ring is now drawn in red with the same glow as the paid rings, and the tropical storm card sits under the header instead of covering the map controls. ### 2.1 — 2026-09-09 Lightning, redesigned. • Every strike is now a bolt. Solid for ground strikes, hollow for in-cloud lightning, bright when fresh and fading with age. • Filter the map by time. Tap the bolt button on the radar to show only the last few minutes of strikes. Strikes inside your safety rings always show. • New safety rings. Each ring carries its own label, and the ring for your current tier glows. • Home shows your nearest strike, its direction, and how long ago it hit, right under your status. • A rewritten Lightning Safety Guide explains every tier, the map, and when it is safe to go back out. Find it beside the settings gear. • Storm hours are highlighted in the hourly forecast. • Opening an alert now shows the area it covers, not your location. ### 2.0 — 2026-09-04 A complete redesign of features you already love! - Countdown more visible throughout different screens of the app - Radar redesigned with zoom in/out buttons, a new ruler tool, and alert view - Easier navigation - Completely new design for the Home Screen that calls out important information for you even faster - Easier access to Bolt - your AI weather assistant ### 1.6 — 2026-09-01 Clouds layer that animates like radar — a timeline scrubber, real timestamps, and a loading indicator. Tropical Weather including: tropical storm paths, watches, warnings, and storm surge Advisory push notifications: get alerted for heat, wind, dense fog, and more National Weather Service advisories covering your saved locations. On by default; toggle in Settings under Notifications. Tap any area on the map to open the Active Alerts panel — every alert covering that spot, with a severity breakdown and time remaining. Watches and advisories now use clean solid outlines, with correct names (for example, Heat Advisory and Wind Advisory). More severe warnings always draw on top, so a Tornado or Tropical Storm Warning is never hidden beneath a Coastal Flood Warning. The map remembers your selected layers between launches. Faster switching from clouds back to radar. ## Apps similar to Before It Strikes | App | Rating | Price | Category | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | [USA Weather Pro: Live Radar](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/usa-weather-pro-live-radar/id6793808419) | 5.0 (1) | Free | Weather | | [Real-Time Lightning by MesoSky](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/real-time-lightning-by-mesosky/id6780237797) | 5.0 (6) | Free | Weather | | [Lightning Tracker: Live Radar](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/lightning-tracker-live-radar/id6789006775) | 5.0 (6) | Free | Weather | | [RadarCast: Live Weather Radar](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/radarcast-live-weather-radar/id6769410681) | 4.8 (25) | Free | Weather | | [NOAA Weather Unofficial: Radar](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/noaa-weather-unofficial-radar/id6771460673) | 5.0 (8) | Free | Weather | | [SkyMochi Weather](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/skymochi-weather/id6774743049) | 5.0 (3) | Free | Weather | ## More apps by Cody Negri - [Benton Community](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/benton-community/id468096566) All apps by Cody Negri: https://appshunter.io/developer/428171414 --- *Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-10-10.*