Privacy Policy

Last updated: 8/2/2026

Metro East Weather ("we", "us", "our") operates metroeastweather.com (the "Site"), owned and operated by Lawrence Digital Media. This Privacy Policy explains what information we collect, how we use it, and the choices you have. By using the Site you consent to the practices described here.

1. Information we collect

Account information

When you create an account we collect your email address, and — if you sign in with Google — your Google profile name and avatar URL. Authentication is handled by our backend authentication provider (Supabase). Passwords, when used, are hashed by Supabase and are never visible to us.

Payment information (donations)

Voluntary donations are processed by Stripe, Inc. We receive from Stripe a customer identifier and receipt metadata. We do NOT see, receive, or store your card number, CVC, or full billing address — those are handled entirely by Stripe under their own privacy policy.

Location data

The Site uses location information to deliver localized forecasts, radar centering, and severe-weather alerts. Location is obtained in one of two ways:

You enter a ZIP code or city in the location search. This is stored in your browser's local storage so the Site can restore your chosen location on your next visit.
You grant browser geolocation permission. In that case your device shares an approximate latitude/longitude with the Site. We use it only to load the forecast for that spot and do not save precise coordinates to our servers. You can revoke geolocation permission at any time in your browser settings.

Push-notification subscriptions

If you opt in to push alerts, your browser issues a push endpoint and cryptographic keys that we store so we can deliver notifications. We operate two independent push channels and you can subscribe to either or both:

Severe-weather alerts — watches, warnings, and other urgent weather notifications for monitored counties.
Blog-post updates — notifications when a new forecast discussion, SPC outlook write-up, or other blog article is published.

You can unsubscribe from either channel at any time from the notification settings dialog or your browser's site settings.

Contact-form messages

When you send a message through the Contact page, we store the message content, your name, your email address, and any reply thread associated with the conversation. Each conversation is accessible via a unique tokenized URL that we email to you so you can view and reply to responses without creating an account. Anyone with that link can view the thread, so treat it like a password and do not share it publicly. Message threads are retained for approximately 24 months to allow follow-up, and then deleted.

Log and usage data

Like most sites, our servers automatically receive standard request information (IP address, user-agent, referrer, timestamps) used for security, abuse prevention, and aggregate analytics. Edge-network request logs generated by our hosting provider (Cloudflare) are retained for approximately 30 days.

2. How we use your information

Provide forecasts, live radar, alerts, and blog content.
Authenticate your account and remember your preferences.
Process voluntary donations through Stripe.
Deliver push notifications you have opted into.
Send transactional emails such as account confirmations, password resets, contact-form replies, and receipts.
Detect abuse and maintain the security and integrity of the Site.

3. Third-party service providers

Stripe, Inc. — payment processing for voluntary donations. See Stripe's Privacy Policy.
Supabase — database hosting, account authentication, realtime updates, and delivery of transactional emails (account, contact-form, and receipt emails).
Cloudflare, Inc. — website hosting, edge delivery, DDoS protection, and request logging. See Cloudflare's Privacy Policy.
OpenStreetMap — map tiles for interactive maps embedded on the Site.
BigDataCloud — reverse geocoding (converting latitude/longitude into a city or ZIP) when you use "Use My Current Location."
Lovable AI Gateway — large-language-model and text-to-speech providers used to generate the automated Hourly Forecast Discussion, SPC outlook write-ups, other AI-assisted blog content, and spoken audio versions of forecasts. See Section 4.
NOAA / National Weather Service — public forecast, radar imagery, and alert data.
Open-Meteo — supplemental forecast model data and geocoding fallback.

4. AI-generated content

Parts of the Site — including the automated Hourly Forecast Discussion, SPC outlook write-ups, certain other blog posts, and spoken (text-to-speech) audio versions of forecasts — are generated in whole or in part by large-language-model and speech-synthesis services routed through the Lovable AI Gateway. These generations use publicly available weather data (from NOAA/NWS, Open-Meteo, and our own editorial prompts) as inputs and do NOT include your personal account information, contact-form messages, or location choices. AI-generated content may occasionally contain errors and is clearly labeled where practical; treat it as general informational commentary, not an official forecast or warning.

5. Cookies and local storage we set directly

We use a small number of first-party cookies and browser local-storage entries strictly to operate the Site — for example, to keep you signed in, remember your selected forecast location, and store your notification preferences. We do not use advertising cookies and do not run third-party advertising networks on the Site.

6. Children's privacy

The Site is not directed to children under 13, and we do not knowingly collect personal information from children under 13. If you believe a child has provided us personal information, contact us and we will delete it.

7. Your rights and choices

You can request access to, correction of, or deletion of your account data at any time via the Contact page. Deleting your account removes your profile and push-notification subscriptions.

Account deletion timeline: account deletion requests are processed within approximately 30 days. Profile data, saved locations, and push-notification subscriptions are removed on completion. Certain records may be retained longer where required by law — for example, Stripe payment and tax records (retained by Stripe and, where applicable, referenced by us for up to 7 years for tax and accounting compliance), suppression-list entries used to honor email opt-outs, and security/abuse logs.

8. California privacy rights (CCPA / CPRA)

If you are a California resident, the California Consumer Privacy Act, as amended by the California Privacy Rights Act ("CCPA/CPRA"), gives you the right to:

Know what personal information we collect about you and how it is used and shared.
Request deletion of personal information we hold about you, subject to legal exceptions.
Correct inaccurate personal information.
Not receive discriminatory treatment for exercising any of these rights.

We do not sell or share your personal information for cross-context behavioral advertising. To submit a rights request, use the Contact page. We will verify your request using the email address associated with your account or your contact-form thread. You may designate an authorized agent to submit a request on your behalf. We do not knowingly sell or share the personal information of consumers under 16.

9. Data retention

We retain personal information only as long as needed to provide the Site and to satisfy legal, tax, and accounting obligations. Typical retention periods:

Account records (profile, saved locations, preferences): for the life of your account, deleted within ~30 days of an account-deletion request.
Push-notification subscriptions: until you unsubscribe, your browser revokes the endpoint, or the endpoint becomes invalid.
Contact-form messages and reply threads: approximately 24 months from the last message in the thread.
Transactional email suppression list (bounces/opt-outs): retained indefinitely so we can honor your opt-out.
Stripe payment and tax records: up to 7 years, as required by tax and accounting law.
Edge/server request logs: approximately 30 days for security and abuse prevention.

10. International visitors

The Site is operated from the United States. If you access it from outside the U.S., your information will be transferred to and processed in the U.S. under U.S. law.

11. Changes to this policy

We may update this policy from time to time. The "Last updated" date above reflects the most recent revision. Material changes will be highlighted on the Site.

12. Contact

Questions about this policy? Reach us via the Contact page.