In this article · 8 sections
Baron is best known to most people through television: its Lynx platform draws the weather graphics many broadcasters use. For lightning alerts at a site, the Baron product to compare is Threat Net, a web-based tool for public-safety teams that alerts when detected strikes come within a set distance. This comparison sets out what Baron publishes, as of 17 October 2026.
The short answer
Baron Threat Net layers radar, severe-weather detection, lightning strikes and street-level data on one map, and sends lightning proximity alerts when strikes are detected 5, 8, 10, 12 or 15 miles from a saved location, with an optional all-clear after 30 minutes. Flash forecasts, for every 1×1 km cell, the likelihood of a cloud-to-ground strike in the next 60 minutes, refreshed every 2 minutes, with up to 99.6% one-hour accuracy scored against NLDN strikes. Choose Threat Net if you want a broad storm-tracking map for a public-safety desk. Choose Flash if you want a warning before the first strike at each field, course or site.
What Baron does well
Everything in this section is as published on baronweather.com, checked 17 Oct 2026: the Threat Net page (opens in a new tab), the lightning proximity alerts announcement (opens in a new tab) (updated 19 Aug 2024), the Lynx for broadcast page (opens in a new tab) and an August 2026 article on ArcGIS alerting (opens in a new tab).
- One map for many hazards. Threat Net is described as an easy-to-use, web-based tool for layering weather data, including radar, severe-weather detection, lightning strikes and hyper-local street-level data, with grouped datasets for severe, tropical, winter and road conditions.
- Lightning proximity alerts at policy distances. Standard alerts cover strikes within 15 miles of a marked location, and closer alerts can be set at 5, 8, 10 or 12 miles. Baron says the closer alerts conform to the NCAA lightning alerting policy for sporting events.
- An all-clear. Users can set an all-clear alert once 30 minutes have passed since the last strike.
- Several ways to receive an alert: a pop-up on the Threat Net map, a text message or an email, with web and mobile access and a companion app.
- Broadcast graphics. Baron Lynx is Baron’s weather visualisation and storytelling platform for broadcasters and media organisations.
- Data for your own systems. Baron describes lightning data and a Baron Model lightning forecast, for both cloud-to-ground and cloud-to-cloud lightning, that organisations can wire into ArcGIS workflows to alert staff when lightning enters a buffer around a site.
Baron says Threat Net was built for public safety professionals who need answers fast. Its site menu describes Threat Net as its “legacy storm tracking experience”; ask Baron which product it recommends for new lightning-alerting customers.
How Flash approaches the same problem
A proximity alert fires on a strike that has already been detected inside the distance you chose. That is the method most written lightning policies are built around, and it anchors the all-clear clock. It cannot warn before a storm’s first strike at your site, because the alert starts with a strike. Flash forecasts from the other direction: it ingests 30+ integrated data signals, including radar, satellite and surface observations, and outputs a likelihood of a cloud-to-ground strike over the next 60 minutes for every 1×1 km cell across the continental U.S., refreshed every 2 minutes.
- 60 minlead time, up to
- 1×1 kmcell per site
- 2 minmodel refresh
- Up to 99.6%one-hour lightning accuracy
Because a forecast can be wrong, Flash scores it like one: hit or miss per cell on the one-hour window, against an independent record of NLDN strikes. The definitions, including first-strike detection and false-alarm ratio, are on the accuracy method page. Baron’s Threat Net page speaks of pinpoint accuracy when querying any pixel on the map; we did not find a published accuracy figure or scoring method for its lightning alerts or lightning forecast on the pages we checked, so ask for one.
Flash runs in the web app, the mobile app, SMS and email, and drives horns and strobes you already own through relays. Where you want a new siren that sounds on the forecast, Flash Weather Shield is solar-powered and cellular. For heat, a 6-hour WBGT outlook plans alongside any on-site reading your policy requires.
Baron Threat Net vs Flash, side by side
| Attribute | Baron Threat Net | Flash |
|---|---|---|
| What triggers a lightning alert | A detected strike within 5, 8, 10, 12 or 15 miles of a saved location | A forecast for your 1×1 km cell, up to 60 minutes before the first strike |
| All-clear | Optional alert once 30 minutes pass since the last strike | All-clear timer after the last strike |
| Accuracy | No lightning accuracy figure or method found on the pages we checked | Up to 99.6% one-hour accuracy against NLDN strikes; method published |
| Other weather | Radar, severe, tropical, winter and road layers on one map | Hail up to 55 minutes ahead; wind, rain and frost from the same 1×1 km grid |
| Delivery | Map pop-up, text message and email; web, mobile and companion app | Web app, mobile app, SMS and email |
| Hardware | None described for Threat Net | None required; relays for existing horns, or Flash Weather Shield |
| Pricing | Not published; demo or sales contact | Per site, annual, quoted after a demo; free app tier for individuals |
Baron Threat Net
- What triggers a lightning alert
- A detected strike within 5, 8, 10, 12 or 15 miles of a saved location
- All-clear
- Optional alert once 30 minutes pass since the last strike
- Accuracy
- No lightning accuracy figure or method found on the pages we checked
- Other weather
- Radar, severe, tropical, winter and road layers on one map
- Delivery
- Map pop-up, text message and email; web, mobile and companion app
- Hardware
- None described for Threat Net
- Pricing
- Not published; demo or sales contact
Flash
- What triggers a lightning alert
- A forecast for your 1×1 km cell, up to 60 minutes before the first strike
- All-clear
- All-clear timer after the last strike
- Accuracy
- Up to 99.6% one-hour accuracy against NLDN strikes; method published
- Other weather
- Hail up to 55 minutes ahead; wind, rain and frost from the same 1×1 km grid
- Delivery
- Web app, mobile app, SMS and email
- Hardware
- None required; relays for existing horns, or Flash Weather Shield
- Pricing
- Per site, annual, quoted after a demo; free app tier for individuals
When Baron is the better fit
- You run a public-safety or operations desk that wants radar, severe, tropical, winter and road layers on one map.
- Your policy is written around a detected-strike radius and you want alerts at the distances Baron offers.
- You are a broadcaster, or you want Baron data inside your own GIS workflows.
When Flash is the better fit
- You need to clear people before the first strike, not after it, at each field, course or job site.
- You want every location judged on its own 1×1 km cell, not on a ring of miles around a pin.
- You want a published, checkable accuracy method behind the alert you act on.
Flash is a Preferred Vendor Partner across all 700+ Troon golf properties, the official weather safety provider of the Big 12 Conference, and the Official Weather Monitoring & Alert System of the NAIA through October 2028.
Running both
A detected-strike radius and a gridded forecast answer different questions, so they sit together in one written policy: the forecast to start moving people, detection to confirm the storm and run the all-clear clock. The prediction vs sensors vs detection explainer compares the technologies, and the vendor comparison hub sets Baron beside the other tools we have compared.
Frequently asked
Baron describes Lynx as a weather visualisation and storytelling platform for broadcasters and media organisations, as its site shows on 17 Oct 2026. For lightning alerts at a location, Baron’s Threat Net offers proximity alerts on detected strikes.
Threat Net’s lightning alerts, as Baron describes them, fire when strikes are detected within a set distance of a saved location. Baron separately lists a Baron Model lightning forecast as a data product; we did not find its lead time or grid on the pages we checked. Flash forecasts each 1×1 km cell for the next 60 minutes.
Baron says standard alerts cover strikes within 15 miles, and closer alerts can be set at 5, 8, 10 or 12 miles, with an all-clear option 30 minutes after the last strike.