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Point your Axis IP camera at the storm — automatically.

Storm Chaser is a CamScripter microapp for Axis IP cameras. It scans the weather around the camera, finds the strongest cell, and aims at it via PTZ preset, CamSwitcher view, or continuous pan / tilt / zoom.

⭳ Get it on GitHub 📄 Operations guide
Axis · CamScripter No API key US NWS alerts Free weather data

The anatomy of automated tracking

Storm Chaser acts as an autonomous director — pulling weather telemetry, scoring atmospheric threats, and driving the camera to frame the most critical cell.

① Input — weather APIContinuously samples raw telemetry: atmospheric conditions and weather-cell identification across a probe grid around the camera.
② Brain — Storm Chaser logicScores threat levels, applies the camera-behavior model and anti-jitter rules, and decides where to look — autonomously.
③ Output — Axis PTZ & overlaysIssues camera-control commands for optimized framing, and pipes live targeting data into broadcast graphics.

See it in action

A quick look at Storm Chaser tracking live weather.

Three ways to track

Pick the mode that fits your hardware — switch any time. Click + on a screenshot to enlarge.

PTZ presets settings screen
PTZ presetsJumps to pre-defined sector slices. Best for fixed sites where only certain viewing corridors are clear.
CamSwitcher views settings screen
CamSwitcher viewsCuts the live feed between distinct cameras/playlists by bearing. Best for multi-camera broadcasts spanning headings.
PTZ tracking settings screen
PTZ trackingFluid, continuous pan/tilt/zoom on exact coordinates. Best for unobstructed 360° roof mounts.

What it does

Everything runs on the camera; the map & tuning live in the settings UI. Click + to enlarge.

Storm scoring
🌩 Storm scoringRanks cells from free Open-Meteo data — lightning potential, CAPE, precipitation and wind gusts, with adjustable weights.
Always-on data
🛰 Always-on dataFalls back to keyless MET Norway when Open-Meteo's daily quota is hit, so tracking never stops.
NWS alerts (US)
🌪 NWS alerts (US)Optionally follows live tornado / severe thunderstorm / hurricane warnings from the National Weather Service.
Live map
🗺 Live mapCamera, scan radius, colored sectors, RainViewer radar, and red storm dots. Click a dot to lock on manually.
CamOverlay output
🖥 CamOverlay outputBurn live status to an InfoTicker line and/or Custom Graphics fields.
Tuneable
⚙️ TuneableMetric / Imperial, 360° / 180° coverage, dwell & hysteresis anti-jitter, export / import, light & dark UI.

Deployment readiness checklist

Five phases, in sequence, for stable autonomous tracking.

  1. Lock the base. Verify the camera IP handshake and enter hyper-accurate site latitude/longitude — all bearings are computed from here.
  2. Cast the net. Set the scan radius and probe grid (rings × samples); watch the estimated daily API calls.
  3. Tune the matrix. Set the threat weights (lightning, CAPE, precipitation, gusts) and enable NWS severe-weather overrides.
  4. Dictate the strategy. Choose PTZ presets, PTZ tracking, or CamSwitcher based on your deployment constraints.
  5. Verify the map. Confirm the blue anchor pin, colored sectors and red threat dots line up with the physical horizon.

Install CamScripter on the camera (ARTPEC-6+), upload storm_chaser_3_0_2.zip, then Save & restart. Full detail: the bundled UserGuide.md or the illustrated Operations guide (PDF).