Is there an app that warns you before lightning strikes?

What "before" means

A warning that arrives when lightning is already overhead is not a warning. Before It Strikes draws a lightning watch around developing and approaching storms using radar signatures, satellite cloud tops and live strike data, so the first push usually lands minutes before the first nearby strike. The validation page shows the lead time it gave on real storms, including the ones it missed.

What it watches

• Ground-based total lightning detection with real-time cloud-to-ground and in-cloud strikes (Pro).
• Satellite lightning from the GOES geostationary lightning mapper, nationwide, for everyone.
• Radar, including a national mosaic and future radar, and official National Weather Service warnings pushed the instant they issue.

What you get for free

Lightning watches and alerts for your current location and the places you save, including an alert when a storm is approaching and a shelter alert when lightning is within 10 miles, plus official NWS warnings, radar, and the all-clear countdown, including on the iPhone Lock Screen and Apple Watch.

What Pro and Precision add

Pro adds the 15, 12 and 8 mile safety rings with distances you can set for each place, unlimited locations, the Strike Log that records every strike near you, and a forecasted all-clear. Precision adds precise ground-based strike data, about a minute faster, that tells ground strikes from in-cloud lightning. Organizations get tools for schools, camps, pools and venues.

What it is not

It is not a replacement for official warnings, and it says so on every screen. The National Weather Service is the source of truth. Before It Strikes exists to give you time before the storm, and to take the guesswork out of when to go back out.

Quick answers

Is there an app that warns you before lightning strikes?

Yes. Before It Strikes warns you as a storm approaches you and your saved places, using real-time lightning detection and radar, and runs the all-clear countdown. It is free on iPhone and Android.

Does Before It Strikes work anywhere in the United States?

Yes. Lightning detection, radar and official warnings are nationwide, and alerts follow your current location as well as the places you save.

Is Before It Strikes free?

Yes. Lightning alerts, lightning watches, radar, official warnings and the all-clear countdown are free. Pro adds adjustable 15, 12 and 8 mile safety rings and the Strike Log, and Precision adds precise ground-based strike data.

For schools, camps and venues

Guidance on this page follows the National Weather Service lightning safety toolkit and the Lightning Safety Guide for Sports and Special Events published by CISA and the National Center for Spectator Sports Safety and Security (May 2026). Official NWS warnings always take precedence.