diff --git a/frontend/app/page.tsx b/frontend/app/page.tsx
index f293cb9c..f890c2bf 100644
--- a/frontend/app/page.tsx
+++ b/frontend/app/page.tsx
@@ -1,11 +1,15 @@
 import type { Metadata } from "next";
 import { redirect } from "next/navigation";
+import { PreloadTerminalData } from "@/components/landing/PreloadTerminalData";
 import { InstitutionalLandingPage } from "@/components/landing/InstitutionalLandingPage";
 
 export const metadata: Metadata = {
   title: "PolyWeather | Institutional Weather Signal Intelligence",
   description:
     "PolyWeather is a paid professional weather-signal intelligence terminal with METAR evidence, DEB forecast blending, and AI decision cards.",
+  other: {
+    preconnect: "https://api.polyweather.top",
+  },
 };
 
 export default async function HomePage({
@@ -29,5 +33,10 @@ export default async function HomePage({
     const qs = usp.toString();
     redirect(`/auth/callback${qs ? `?${qs}` : ""}`);
   }
-  return <InstitutionalLandingPage />;
+  return (
+    <>
+      <PreloadTerminalData />
+      <InstitutionalLandingPage />
+    </>
+  );
 }
diff --git a/frontend/components/landing/PreloadTerminalData.tsx b/frontend/components/landing/PreloadTerminalData.tsx
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..5ae8c678
--- /dev/null
+++ b/frontend/components/landing/PreloadTerminalData.tsx
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+"use client";
+
+import { useEffect } from "react";
+
+/**
+ * Warms the backend cache for public API endpoints while the user reads
+ * the landing page, so the first terminal load after login is faster.
+ *
+ * - /api/cities  (public, triggers Python process warmup and connection pool init)
+ * - scan terminal (protected — skipped here; prefetched by the terminal
+ *   component's stagger loading after login)
+ */
+export function PreloadTerminalData() {
+  useEffect(() => {
+    if (typeof window === "undefined" || typeof fetch !== "function") return;
+
+    const controller = new AbortController();
+
+    // Delay 2s so the landing page critical assets load first
+    const t = setTimeout(
+      () =>
+        fetch("/api/cities", {
+          cache: "no-store",
+          headers: { Accept: "application/json" },
+          signal: controller.signal,
+        }).catch(() => {}),
+      2000,
+    );
+
+    return () => {
+      controller.abort();
+      clearTimeout(t);
+    };
+  }, []);
+
+  return null;
+}
diff --git a/web/routers/scan.py b/web/routers/scan.py
index 5b77c26d..5ef3141d 100644
--- a/web/routers/scan.py
+++ b/web/routers/scan.py
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 from __future__ import annotations
 
 from fastapi import APIRouter, Request
+from fastapi.responses import JSONResponse
 
 from web.services.scan_api import (
     get_scan_terminal_ai_payload,
@@ -30,7 +31,7 @@ async def scan_terminal(
     trading_region: str = "",
     timezone_offset_seconds: int | None = None,
 ):
-    return await get_scan_terminal_payload(
+    payload = await get_scan_terminal_payload(
         request,
         scan_mode=scan_mode,
         min_price=min_price,
@@ -45,6 +46,12 @@ async def scan_terminal(
         region=region or trading_region or None,
         timezone_offset_seconds=timezone_offset_seconds,
     )
+    return JSONResponse(
+        content=payload,
+        headers={
+            "Cache-Control": "public, s-maxage=30, stale-while-revalidate=120",
+        },
+    )
 
 
 @router.post("/api/scan/terminal/ai")