Class project turns into Big White powder alert app

A UBC Okanagan student has created an app that alerts subscribers to the weather conditions at Big White Ski Resort, especially when there's fresh powder.

Taylor Johnathon created his Big White Powder Watch App as part of a coding class.

It sends text messages to its subscribers to keep them up to date on weather conditions for skiers who want to make the best of their skiing days.

“With this system, you'll wake up early to an automatic text anytime there's a dump of fresh snow, and can give you real-time weather updates if you text 'update' to it,” Johnathon said in a post to Facebook.

To get the Powder Alerts, you can sign up via his website here or text “subscribe” to 778-770-4569.

In terms of privacy, subscribed phone numbers are stored with the only purpose of sending the updates via text message, but are not shared outside of the program.

The texts are sent from a Canadian number so no charges will apply to anyone who receives Canadian texts for free.

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