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Reviewed / Rachel Murphy
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Severe weather like tornadoes, wildfires, and floods can strike at a moment’s notice. In some cases, you may not have time to leave your home. With devices like the Amazon Echo Dot (5th gen) and the Echo Show 5, you can receive realtime Alexa weather alerts before severe weather strikes.
Alexa weather warnings aren’t the only way your Echo devices and Amazon’s smart assistant can help you during the next big storm. From frozen pipes and to making emergency calls, here are 9 ways Alexa and Echo devices can help in severe weather.
1. Alert you to severe weather
Echo speakers and displays alert you to storms using Alexa weather alerts. All you have to do is say, “Alexa, tell me when there’s a severe weather alert,” and she’ll let you know the next time there’s a snowstorm, rain, hurricane, or other weather event headed your way.
With a smart display like the Echo Show 10, you can see the forecast on screen, in addition to Alexa reading it aloud. This particular Alexa smart display has a motion-tracking camera, too, which is helpful if you're multi-tasking but want to keep an eye on the forecast. No matter where you go in the room, the screen will always be in view.
If you ever want to turn off Alexa weather alerts, just tell her so.
2. Call your emergency contacts
Make emergency call to friends and family with Alexa via an Echo device or the Alexa app.
You may be wondering, “Can Alexa call 911?” While she can’t call first responders, she can get in touch with an emergency contact if you ever need help.
To set this up, open the Alexa app. Tap Communicate > tap the Contacts icon in the upper righthand corner (it looks like the silhouette of two people). Then, tap the three stacked dotted lines in the upper right-hand corner > tap Emergency Contact to select a contact and follow the prompts to complete the process.
Once Alexa enabled, she will attempt to call and text the number when you ask her to “call for help.” Just keep in mind that this feature only works when your Echo device is powered on and connected to Wi-Fi.
3. Get the exact weather forecast at your home
You can get the full forecast without ever stepping outside by using a smart device like the Tempest Weather System, which works with Alexa. This smart weather tracking device mounts to your roof and reports data specific to your exact location like temperature, solar radiation, humidity, barometric pressure, wind speed and direction, dew point, lightning strikes, and rainfall.
With an Echo speaker nearby, you can ask Alexa to check the forecast with Tempest to get the exact down-to-the-minute weather alerts for your home.
4. Adjust the temperature
A smart thermostat like the Nest Learning Thermostat (pictured) work with Alexa for voice control.
In the winter, it’s not unusual to experience major storms in New England and other northern states, and one of the first things I do when it starts to snow is raise the temperature in my home. Not only is it nice to be toasty warm when it’s snowing outside, but I also feel more comfortable knowing that the house will be a little warmer should the power go out.
When you have a smart thermostat like the Nest Learning Thermostat, in your home, you can turn up the heat from the comfort of your couch when you say, “Alexa, set the living room temperature to 72 degrees."
5. Plan your route during evacuations
Whether you're leaving ahead of the storm or have to evacuate at a moment's notice, Alexa can help you plan your drive and avoid traffic.
You can ask her questions like, “Alexa, how is the traffic to the airport?”
You can also ask her to send the information to your phone's map app, allowing you to see traffic and other important travel alerts.
6. Shut off your water to prevent frozen pipes
When a blizzard is blowing through or the temperatures drop to single digits, there’s always a chance that the pipes in your home freeze. Even worse, your pipes could burst, leaving you with a big (and expensive) mess on your hands. Luckily, Alexa and the Moen Flo Smart Water Monitor can work together to prevent this from happening.
The smart monitor attaches right to your home’s main water line, and it uses advanced sensors to detect leaks and monitor the ambient temperature of your pipes.
If the device senses a problem, the smart device will send you a smartphone notification, and you can ask Alexa to shut off your water before things freeze over.
7. Track storms during hurricane season
If you live in a region that gets hit by hurricanes, your Echo can help you track the latest storms and give you the latest forecast with the free Hurricane Center skill.
Once enabled, all you have to say is, “Alexa, what are the current storms?” This skill can also give you facts and historical tidbits about tropical storms and hurricanes.
8. Show you live radar
Trying to figure out whether the storm is going to pass over your house? If you have an Echo smart display, such as the Echo Show 8, you can view live radar with the help of the Big Sky skill.
This popular skill provides all sorts of weather information, including hourly temperature, wind, and precipitation data.
You can also use the skill to set up custom Alexa weather alerts, so she can give you advanced notice if there’s a thunderstorm, freezing temperatures, high winds, and more.
9. Keep you entertained
Whether it's a snowstorm or thunder rolling through, weather can be a stressful event for some. An Echo speaker like the Echo Dot (5th gen) can keep you occupied with music, games, and more, taking your mind off what's happening outdoors. The smart speaker can also play soothing sounds to drown out the loud cracks of lighting outdoors when you're trying to go to bed.
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