When bad weather rolls in, knowing the storm’s strength, speed and location are crucial keys to keeping safe.

Baron Services, a Huntsville-based company that distributes forecasting information to television stations across the country, is trying to promote its free weather app to people living in southern Alabama.

The app which launched last year, called Alabama SAF-T-NET, has several features to help both the general public and emergency personnel.

“It is a full-feature weather app you can use everyday,” said Steve Turner, National Director of Governmental Operations for Baron Services. “But, it is most importantly an alerting app that deals with severe weather.”

The app allows users to get up-to-the minute alerts about weather systems entering their exact area, as well as at locations they select across the country.

“You can put in these addresses so you aren’t getting just the forecast for your entire county, but also for 123 Oak St.,” Turner said. “This isn’t designed to replace anything people are already using to get their weather information, it’s meant to augment them.”

Along with giving users weather updates about their exact location, the app also allows emergency management officials to view photos users upload of storms and storm damage.

“If people upload photos of a storm or of storm damage, it helps me understand what we’re dealing with,” said Rhonda Abbott, emergency management agency director for Dallas County. “And it helps me relay more accurate information to the weather service.”

Abbott, who has the app on her phone, said the alerts — which can warn the user about a number of severe weather systems — make the app worth the download.

“Recently I was outside with some family members, and we never went under any kind of watch or warning, so I didn’t hear anything from the National Weather Service when some thunderstorms rolled through,” Abbott said. “I can’t recommend this app enough.”

Turner said his company is determined to help people learn about the app, especially in impoverished parts of the state.

“We’ve done a lousy job, to be honest, of telling people south of Birmingham about this app and how it can help them,” Turner said. “And the people with the fewest means of communication, living in rural counties, have the greatest need for a program like this.”

Turner said people without smart phones can receive voicemails, SMS texts and email alerts.

“We wanted to make sure everyone in the state had access to some kind of warning,” Turner said.

Additional information about the app can be found at alabamasaftnet.com, and it can be downloaded on the iTunes App Store and the Google Play store on Android.