# StrikeCast

> StrikeCast is a US lightning tracker that shows how close lightning is right now —
> the nearest-strike distance in miles, whether the storm is approaching or moving away,
> and free push alerts when lightning nears a saved city. Data source: NOAA GOES-GLM
> geostationary lightning mappers, near real time. Privacy-forward: no ads, no tracking,
> never shared. Website: https://strikecast.app

## Key facts
- Hero metric: distance in miles to the nearest lightning strike, plus an approaching / moving-away trend (most trackers show only a strike count; StrikeCast leads with distance and direction).
- Coverage: the entire United States, near real time, from NOAA GOES-19 / GOES-18 GLM geostationary lightning mappers. Accuracy is ~8–14 km, so distance is shown rounded (e.g. "~8 mi").
- Units: miles, built for the US (not kilometers).
- Alerts: free push notifications in the iOS app when lightning approaches a saved city. The website is a check-once teaser; proactive alerts live in the app.
- Privacy: no ads, no advertising identifiers, no account required. The website uses a city's center coordinates, not your precise location.

## Pages
- /lightning — US lightning hub; 50 states ranked by thunderstorm activity
- /lightning/[state] — state lightning map, live activity, cities, and thunderstorm season
- /lightning/[state]/[city] — live nearest-strike distance, approaching/moving-away trend, climatology, and safety for a city
- /lightning-near-me — geolocate to the closest tracked city

## Guides
- /blog/how-far-away-is-lightning — how to measure lightning distance and what the numbers mean
- /blog/lightning-30-30-rule — the 30-30 lightning safety rule explained
- /blog/what-is-goes-glm — how NOAA's GOES-GLM satellite lightning data works
- /blog/lightning-near-me — finding lightning activity near your location
- /blog/most-lightning-prone-us-cities — which US cities get the most lightning

## App
- iOS app: https://apps.apple.com/app/strikecast — persistent nearest-strike distance, approaching/moving-away trend, saved locations, and free push alerts when lightning approaches.

## Safety
- Follow the 30-30 rule: shelter when thunder follows lightning by 30 seconds or less; wait 30 minutes after the last thunder before going back outside.
- StrikeCast is for awareness only and is not a substitute for official National Weather Service warnings. It is independent and not affiliated with NOAA or the NWS.

## Legal
- /privacy — privacy policy
- /terms — terms of service
- /support — support
- /about — about StrikeCast