Hi everyone!
Real-time lightning strikes around the house, thanks to the Blitzortung.org community network: thousands of detectors installed by volunteers around the world.
What it does
- One device per house placed on the map: number of strikes in the last 15 minutes and within a radius (30 km by default), distance of the closest strike, its direction (N, NE… and in degrees), time of the last strike.
- Three scene triggers: lightning within X km (from 5 to 200), end of storm (no strikes for 30 minutes), approaching storm.
- A scene action “Lightning Status” and a widget “Lightning”: calm, or storm 12 km southwest.
The cool part
- Lightning within 10 km → the awning retracts and the sprinklers stop.
- Approaching storm → “Storm 18 km southwest, it’s getting closer”.
- End of storm → everything reopens.
Installation
Gladys 5.1 minimum. It will be available in the store at the next indexer update. In a hurry? Integrations → Install from GitHub, with the address GitHub - LM1LC3N7/gladys-blitzortung: Gladys Assistant external integration for Blitzortung (lightning detection): nearby strikes with distance and direction, “lightning within X km” scene trigger and a storm widget. Unofficial, not affiliated with Blitzortung.org. · GitHub
Accept access to the position of your houses, adjust the radius if needed, then Discovery tab: add the device of your house.
Honest small reservations
- Network consumption: the Blitzortung stream is global. As long as a lightning device exists, the integration receives about 1 GB per day (9 KB/s). On a limited connection, think before adding it; removing the device closes the stream.
- This is not a security system: a help for automation, not protection.
- The data comes from volunteers, for private and non-commercial use. One connection per installation, and Blitzortung.org is credited everywhere. If you like the project, consider supporting the network.
- The stream is from the map.blitzortung.org map, without official documentation. The decoding has been verified on real frames, but it will need to be followed if it changes. Tested on a real storm… in Oklahoma: feedback during a storm at your place interests me.
Developed with Claude Code. Independent project, not affiliated with Blitzortung.org.