Which value to use in Alerts API for actual end times of warnings?

[Airuis]

Hello,

I'm working with the Alerts API, and I came across a situation where the "ends" property contained the time a warning was set to end, but that value wasn't present in the "eventEndingTime" property. According to the CAP documentation (if I'm interpreting it correctly), the "eventEndingTime" property is where that value should be reflected, but that gave an entirely different ending time than what was expressed in the description of the alert and what was in the "ends" property. Here's a sample of the response:

  "@context": {
    "@version": "1.1",
    "wx": "https://api.weather.gov/ontology#",
    "@vocab": "https://api.weather.gov/ontology#"
  },
  "@graph": [
    {
      "@id": "https://api.weather.gov/alerts/urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.b86b17ce04550953ca33875afc5c5f3ab47a759a.004.1",
      "@type": "wx:Alert",
      "id": "urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.b86b17ce04550953ca33875afc5c5f3ab47a759a.004.1",
      "areaDesc": "Pocahontas; Humboldt; Wright; Franklin; Butler; Bremer; Sac; Calhoun; Webster; Hamilton; Hardin; Grundy; Black Hawk; Crawford; Carroll; Greene; Boone; Story; Marshall; Tama; Audubon; Guthrie; Dallas; Polk; Jasper; Poweshiek; Cass; Adair; Madison; Warren; Adams; Union; Clarke; Taylor; Ringgold; Decatur",
      "geometry": null,
      "geocode": {
        "SAME": [
          "019151",
          "019091",
          "019197",
          "019069",
          "019023",
          "019017",
          "019161",
          "019025",
          "019187",
          "019079",
          "019083",
          "019075",
          "019013",
          "019047",
          "019027",
          "019073",
          "019015",
          "019169",
          "019127",
          "019171",
          "019009",
          "019077",
          "019049",
          "019153",
          "019099",
          "019157",
          "019029",
          "019001",
          "019121",
          "019181",
          "019003",
          "019175",
          "019039",
          "019173",
          "019159",
          "019053"
        ],
        "UGC": [
          "IAZ023",
          "IAZ024",
          "IAZ025",
          "IAZ026",
          "IAZ027",
          "IAZ028",
          "IAZ033",
          "IAZ034",
          "IAZ035",
          "IAZ036",
          "IAZ037",
          "IAZ038",
          "IAZ039",
          "IAZ044",
          "IAZ045",
          "IAZ046",
          "IAZ047",
          "IAZ048",
          "IAZ049",
          "IAZ050",
          "IAZ057",
          "IAZ058",
          "IAZ059",
          "IAZ060",
          "IAZ061",
          "IAZ062",
          "IAZ070",
          "IAZ071",
          "IAZ072",
          "IAZ073",
          "IAZ081",
          "IAZ082",
          "IAZ083",
          "IAZ092",
          "IAZ093",
          "IAZ094"
        ]
      },
      "affectedZones": [
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ023",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ024",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ025",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ026",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ027",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ028",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ033",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ034",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ035",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ036",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ037",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ038",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ039",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ044",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ045",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ046",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ047",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ048",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ049",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ050",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ057",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ058",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ059",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ060",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ061",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ062",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ070",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ071",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ072",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ073",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ081",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ082",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ083",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ092",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ093",
        "https://api.weather.gov/zones/forecast/IAZ094"
      ],
      "references": [
        {
          "@id": "https://api.weather.gov/alerts/urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.296cb28b9a249a092470cbd614396a98b544a9b6.003.1",
          "identifier": "urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.296cb28b9a249a092470cbd614396a98b544a9b6.003.1",
          "sender": "w-nws.webmaster@noaa.gov",
          "sent": "2024-08-26T03:32:00-05:00"
        }
      ],
      "sent": "2024-08-26T04:57:00-05:00",
      "effective": "2024-08-26T04:57:00-05:00",
      "onset": "2024-08-26T13:00:00-05:00",
      "expires": "2024-08-26T13:00:00-05:00",
      "ends": "2024-08-26T20:00:00-05:00",
      "status": "Actual",
      "messageType": "Update",
      "category": "Met",
      "severity": "Moderate",
      "certainty": "Likely",
      "urgency": "Expected",
      "event": "Heat Advisory",
      "sender": "w-nws.webmaster@noaa.gov",
      "senderName": "NWS Des Moines IA",
      "headline": "Heat Advisory issued August 26 at 4:57AM CDT until August 26 at 8:00PM CDT by NWS Des Moines IA",
      "description": "* WHAT...Heat index values up to 110 expected.\n\n* WHERE...Portions of central, north central, northeast, northwest,\nsouth central, southwest, and west central Iowa.\n\n* WHEN...From 1 PM this afternoon to 8 PM CDT this evening.\n\n* IMPACTS...Hot temperatures and high humidity may cause heat\nillnesses.",
      "instruction": "Drink plenty of fluids, stay in an air-conditioned room, stay out of\nthe sun, and check up on relatives and neighbors.\n\nTake extra precautions when outside. Wear lightweight and loose\nfitting clothing. Try to limit strenuous activities to early morning\nor evening. Take action when you see symptoms of heat exhaustion and\nheat stroke.\n\nTo reduce risk during outdoor work, the Occupational Safety and\nHealth Administration recommends scheduling frequent rest breaks in\nshaded or air conditioned environments. Anyone overcome by heat\nshould be moved to a cool and shaded location. Heat stroke is an\nemergency! Call 9 1 1.",
      "response": "Execute",
      "parameters": {
        "AWIPSidentifier": [
          "NPWDMX"
        ],
        "WMOidentifier": [
          "WWUS73 KDMX 260957"
        ],
        "NWSheadline": [
          "HEAT ADVISORY REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 1 PM THIS AFTERNOON TO 8 PM CDT THIS EVENING"
        ],
        "BLOCKCHANNEL": [
          "EAS",
          "NWEM",
          "CMAS"
        ],
        "VTEC": [
          "/O.CON.KDMX.HT.Y.0010.240826T1800Z-240827T0100Z/"
        ],
        "eventEndingTime": [
          "2024-08-27T01:00:00+00:00"
        ],
        "expiredReferences": [
          "w-nws.webmaster@noaa.gov,urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.36dd80e0f1e3c52711ff3081e180bdf233efd6b0.001.2,2024-08-25T19:55:00-05:00 w-nws.webmaster@noaa.gov,urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.b021eb9418ecba9ad2a9b8107a69e8ac8fd94717.001.2,2024-08-25T14:40:00-05:00 w-nws.webmaster@noaa.gov,urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.4f9ca323de9e4577af373f78307828d6426b0ea3.001.2,2024-08-25T10:23:00-05:00 w-nws.webmaster@noaa.gov,urn:oid:2.49.0.1.840.0.3dbc85217b43f2f4ef5a45ee238b9b48ab8cb1ba.001.1,2024-08-25T02:19:00-05:00"
        ]
      }
    }
  ],
  "title": "Current watches, warnings, and advisories",
  "updated": "2024-08-26T09:57:49+00:00"
}

My question is, what property should I be going off of to determine when the alert actually ends? I noticed that the "ends" property is not in the documentation, but "eventEndingTime" is (https://vlab.noaa.gov/web/nws-common-alerting-protocol/cap-documentation#eventendingtime) and would seem to be the right value to key into.

Any assistance would be appreciated. Thank you!

[sullynole]

The eventEndingTime is the same as ends in that example, just reported with different tz offsets. I believe ends might be added by API and taken from eventEndingTime in the ingest of the CAP alert.

[Airuis]

Thank you. That makes sense. Glad it was something simple.