Severe weather alerts via text message to cellphone?

Lightening seeks out what it wants and isn't very selective. Trees are as grounded to the earth as an antenna, often more so.

They can usually predict thunderstorms and their general intensity depending on whats forming it, but certainly not where the strikes are gonna hit. Once you get to the Midwest and out of the Pacific influence, it's pretty amazing how accurate the forecasts are for days at a time.