In this article · 6 sections
A storm day for a superintendent, on a jobsite or a golf course, is a run of small decisions under time pressure. Flash Agent lets you ask them in plain language and get an answer drawn from the same 1×1 km forecast cells as the rest of Flash, or a prepared action in the tool you already use.
What sits behind every answer
Flash Agent reads two things: the forecast for your cells and what it knows about your sites and policies. The forecast comes from the Flash prediction engine, with lightning refreshed every 2 minutes, hail every 5, strike-level lightning prediction up to 60 minutes ahead and a 6-hour outlook. Every answer shows the 1×1 km cell id and the model run it came from, so anyone can check it against the map.
The examples below are the kinds of questions on the Flash Agent and Lightning Prediction pages. Site names, times and cell numbers in them are illustrative, not live weather.
Morning: planning the day around the storm
- “What time will the best lightning chance be today to shut down operations?”
- The first question on a storm morning, asked by construction, golf and schools teams alike. The answer gives the window for your own cells rather than the county, so you can plan work and tee times around it.
- “Which of my sites sees lightning first?”
- For a superintendent with several sites, Flash Agent reads the forecast for every site on your list, so the answer compares them instead of describing one. Crews can start where the window stays open longest.
- “Which of my job sites should I assign crews for tomorrow?”
- The same comparison a day ahead, for scheduling rather than shutdown.
- “Are wind gusts low enough to safely operate cranes and work at elevated heights?”
- Answered against your own crane limit. In the illustrative example, gusts exceed the site’s 25 mph limit until late morning and a second site is clear all day, so elevated work starts there.
As the storm builds: moving work out of the window
- “Which of my 12 sites has a crane lift inside a lightning window this week?”
- In the illustrative example the answer is one site, one afternoon. Flash Agent prepares the move in Procore, texts the foreman and cites the cell and model run. The schedule change waits for a person to confirm it.
- “When do I sound the horn on the course?”
- The golf version of the same question: a horn time and an expected resume time for the course, from the cells the course covers. With Golf Genius connected, Flash Agent flags tee times inside a Watch and proposes shotgun delays for the pro shop to confirm.
- “Move Thursday practice to 5:30 pm.”
- For athletics, the action lands in Google Calendar: the event moves, attendees get a note saying why, and the change is held until a coach confirms it.
Clearing the field itself does not wait for a question. Lightning alerts still go out by app, SMS, email, horn and strobe from the Weather Command Center; Flash Agent is the quickest way from a question to an answer or an action around those alerts.
Into the schedule
The answer arrives as a prepared change, not a forecast to interpret.
After the storm: who was warned, and when
- “List last night’s all-clear decisions.”
- A safety manager’s question. The answer is a list from the alert log: each event with its cell, its model run and the person who cleared the field.
- “Who was warned?”
- The alert log records who was warned, when, and when play resumed, so the answer is a record rather than a recollection.
- “Log this decision for the safety file.”
- A follow-up you can ask after any answer. Every action is logged with who asked, what was read, what changed and who confirmed it.
Where the answers land
| Attribute | What Flash Agent does | Needs a person to confirm? |
|---|---|---|
| Procore | Reschedules lifts and pours, writes the delay to the daily log, texts the foreman | Yes, every schedule change |
| Google Calendar | Moves or shortens events inside a risk window and tells attendees why | Yes, every event change |
| Golf Genius | Flags tee times inside a Watch, proposes shotgun delays, notifies the pro shop | Yes, every tee-time change |
| Slack and Teams | Answers in the channel, posts the call and the reason, collects confirmations | This is where people confirm |
What Flash Agent does
- Procore
- Reschedules lifts and pours, writes the delay to the daily log, texts the foreman
- Google Calendar
- Moves or shortens events inside a risk window and tells attendees why
- Golf Genius
- Flags tee times inside a Watch, proposes shotgun delays, notifies the pro shop
- Slack and Teams
- Answers in the channel, posts the call and the reason, collects confirmations
Needs a person to confirm?
- Procore
- Yes, every schedule change
- Google Calendar
- Yes, every event change
- Golf Genius
- Yes, every tee-time change
- Slack and Teams
- This is where people confirm
The full list of connectors, and what each one may do, is on the Flash Agent page. Flash Agent is included in the Portfolio and Enterprise plans, and single-site plans can add it; details are on the pricing page.
Frequently asked
Yes. It reads the forecast for the cells across your site list, so a superintendent can ask which site sees lightning first or which crane lift falls inside a lightning window this week.
No. It can answer, notify and prepare a change by itself, but moving a practice, rescheduling a lift or editing a tee sheet waits for a person to confirm, and that confirmation is logged.
Every answer cites the 1×1 km cell id and the model run behind it, so it can be checked against the map and the accuracy method.