mWater Launches Horizon: A Free Flood and Rainfall Awareness App, Available Worldwide
As a potentially historic El Niño builds, Horizon gives anyone, anywhere, a clearer view of river-flood risk and incoming heavy rain, including where weather radar doesn't reach.
2026-06-20
mWater today launches Horizon, a free app that helps individuals anywhere in the world understand their risk from riverine flooding and heavy rainfall. Horizon is available now at horizon.mwater.co.
The launch comes as forecasters warn of a potentially historic El Niño. Based on June 2026 seasonal forecasts, an El Niño this year is now considered virtually certain, and there is roughly a two-in-three chance it strengthens into a "super" event heading into 2027. El Niño is expected to worsen drought, flood, and storm conditions across many regions, often bringing flooding to one part of the world while driving drought in another. For people in the most exposed places, knowing what's coming is the first step to staying safe.
Horizon is built to make that knowledge accessible to everyone, not just experts. Users can track their own location and any others they care about, see whether they sit in a mapped river floodplain, and get clear Yellow / Orange / Red awareness levels for heavy rain based on the international alerting scale used by weather agencies worldwide. A 10-day rainfall outlook and a plain-language summary translate technical forecasts into something anyone can act on.
A key feature addresses a gap that affects much of the world: many countries have no Doppler weather radar, leaving people with little visibility into approaching storms. Horizon's live satellite-based storm view fills that gap, letting users see active storm systems around them from space wherever they are.
Dr. Annie Feighery, mWater's CEO and co-founder, said, "For 14 years, mWater has existed to democratize data and reduce inequality by creating technologies for data-driven decision making. Seven years ago, we expanded our userbase beyond water by adding the Solstice brand, which serves public servants and stakeholders working in health, agriculture, emergencies, and beyond. Horizon hearkens to this tradition by making satellite data and weather models useful and actionable to everyone. Weather is perhaps the most important place in our lives for data-driven decision making. Horizon makes that possible."
Horizon draws on trusted global sources. River-flood risk is based on the Global Flood Awareness System (GloFAS), a joint service of the European Commission and ECMWF, while rainfall forecasting comes from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), with live satellite imagery from EUMETSAT and NASA. Horizon is designed as guidance to complement, but never replace, official local warnings.
Today's release focuses on riverine flooding and rainfall. Drought monitoring will follow soon, completing Horizon's view of the water-related extremes that El Niño is expected to intensify. The app is also the foundation for a forthcoming mWater platform built for the policymakers and community water managers responsible for protecting entire populations, extending the same intelligence from individuals to the institutions that serve them.
About mWater
mWater is a technology nonprofit serving public servants in low- and middle-income countries with free, cutting-edge tools for water, sanitation, health, and the environment. Its platform is used across 198 countries by partners including UNICEF and World Vision.