Weather Alerts v2026.1.0

Release date: January 30, 2026

⚠️ IMPORTANT – READ BEFORE UPDATING ⚠️

This release introduces breaking changes to how the Weather Alerts integration is configured.

If you are upgrading from a previous version, do not update until you have reviewed the information below.

Breaking Changes and Deprecations

UI-Only Configuration

• YAML-based platform configuration is deprecated and no longer supported for new setups.
• All configuration is now performed entirely through the Home Assistant UI.
• Existing YAML-based platform configuration is automatically migrated to UI-based config entries on startup.

No manual migration steps are required, but you should verify your configuration after updating.

YAML Package Deprecation

• The optional YAML packages provided with earlier versions of this project are now deprecated.
• These YAML packages were intended as helpers and automations for easy use of the integration, but are not required for the integration to function.
• YAML packages are no longer maintained and will be removed in a future release.
• The Automation Examples and Dashboard Examples links will give you what you need to get started replacing the existing persistent notification automation and provide dashboard examples to use the integration sensor data.

If you are currently using a Weather Alerts YAML package:

• You may continue using it, but review the Installation documentation on how to upgrade and continue using the YAML Package.
• Review the updated Automation Examples and Dashboard Examples documentation for easy to use examples to help you migrate away from the YAML Package.

What You Should Do Before Updating

1. Review the updated README:
   https://github.com/custom-components/weatheralerts/blob/master/README.md

2. Review installation and configuration documentation:
   https://github.com/custom-components/weatheralerts/blob/master/documentation/installation.md
   https://github.com/custom-components/weatheralerts/blob/master/documentation/configuration.md

3. If you previously used YAML configuration or YAML packages:

   • Allow Home Assistant to start once after updating
   • Confirm the Weather Alerts integration is present and working
   • Remove legacy YAML configuration entries after verification
   • Plan migration away from the YAML Package if still in use

Summary of Changes in 2026.1.0

This release is a major update to the Weather Alerts integration, introducing built-in alert tracking for use with persistent notifications, improved configuration options, expanded documentation, and a fully UI-driven configuration experience.

New Features

• Persistent alert tracking

  • Alerts are tracked across Home Assistant restarts
  • Each alert includes lifecycle status (new, old, delete)

• Improved error handling

  • Automatic fallback to last known good data during NWS API outages
  • Structured error history exposed via sensor attributes

• Configurable update behavior

  • User-configurable sensor update interval
  • User-configurable API timeout with validation safeguards

• Optional alert deduplication

  • Removes duplicate alerts with identical descriptions when enabled

• Custom alert icon configuration

  • Per-alert event icon mappings configurable via integration options flow
  • Default fallback icon for unknown event types

• Expanded zone support

  • Public zones, county zones, and marine zones supported
  • Multiple zone types may be combined into a single sensor

Improvements

• Sensor state now consistently represents the number of active alerts
• Alert data is normalized and sorted consistently
• Expired alerts handled more reliably during API outages
• Entity naming and unique ID handling standardized
• Documentation fully rewritten and reorganized

Documentation

Full documentation, examples, and troubleshooting guides:
https://github.com/custom-components/weatheralerts/tree/master/documentation

Notes for Existing Users

• YAML platform configuration is deprecated
• YAML packages are deprecated and no longer maintained

Support

If you encounter issues after upgrading:

1. Review the documentation
2. Enable debug logging from the Weather Alerts integration page
3. Reproduce the issue
4. Open an issue with logs attached

Issue tracker:
https://github.com/custom-components/weatheralerts/issues

Changes:

weatheralerts v0.1.5

• Fix 'async_timeout.timeout with loop keyword argument' deprecation warning. (Issue #51)
• Fix 'implements device_state_attributes' warning. (Issue #52)
• Fix for template errors that are logged when sensor is unavailable. (Issue #52)
• Add icons for each alert type (Issue #50)

Changes:

weatheralerts v0.1.4

• Update manifest to include 'version' key.

Changes:

weatheralerts v0.1.3

• Update README.md so links will work in HACS

Changes:

weatheralerts v0.1.2

• Update and add documentation
• Changed default icon from mdi:weather-hurricane to mdi:alert-octagram
• Simplify alert object sorting; reverse sort alerts by alert ID
• Tweak logging levels and messages
• Log sorted alert IDs for debugging purposes
• Add endsExpire, hailSize, windGust, and waterspoutDetection alert attributes
• Increase initial setup timeouts from 10 seconds to 20 seconds

weatheralerts YAML packages v0.1.2

• Various improvements and fixes
• Add input_text sensors to track triggered alerts
• Turn off ended alerts (using endsExpire) if weather.gov has extended outage
• Add additional count attributes to the weatheralerts_*_active_alerts sensor

This release addresses a problem when multiple alerts are issued with the same 'sent' date/time. The json alert feed will randomly swap these alerts around and can cause notifications to be continually re-triggered, potentially every 30 seconds (or whatever the scan_interval is set to in the weatheralerts yaml configuration). The alerts array is now sorted by 'sent' and 'id' fields, and should keep alerts in a consistent order even when they are swapped around in the json alert feed.

Added 'county' platform config option to specify an optional county ID number. 'zone' should be set to a proper zone ID number (and is required), the county ID number should then be specified with the 'county' option.

Additional alert properties have been added along with proper handling in the event an attribute is not included in the json alert feed. Feel free to request additional alert properties by submitting an issue here on github (https://github.com/custom-components/weatheralerts/issues).

The main platform sensor entity state will contain the number of active alerts, unless the sensor fails to connect with weather.gov to retrieve alerts. If the sensor cannot connect to weather.gov to retrieve the json alert feed, the sensor state will be set to 'unavailable'. The yaml package(s) with this pull request includes template sensors that will retain active alerts and the active alert count (for a short period), even when the main sensor becomes 'unavailable'.

PlatformNotReady is added to allow the platform to continue to retry the initialization if the weather.gov site is too slow to respond or experiencing other issues.

Added additional checks to verify the specified zone and county IDs are valid.

Included a set of comprehensive yaml packages that include tracking for up to 5 active weather alerts and automations and script to handle UI notifications.

Started update of README.md documentation.