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Help Guide

Weather Safety Alerts

Protect your anglers and your business with automated weather monitoring. Set safety thresholds, auto-cancel when conditions are unsafe, and notify everyone instantly.

5 min read

Why Weather Alerts?

Weather can change plans fast. Instead of manually checking forecasts and calling anglers one by one, Guidewinds's weather alert system monitors conditions for your location and takes action automatically when thresholds are exceeded.

This keeps your anglers safe, reduces no-shows in bad weather, and saves you hours of phone calls and manual rescheduling.

Plan Requirement

Weather safety alerts are available on the Professional plan and above.

Setting Up Weather Monitoring

  1. Go to Dashboard → Settings → Weather
  2. Confirm your operating location (used for weather data)
  3. Enable weather monitoring
  4. Choose your monitoring window (how far ahead to check — typically 24–48 hours)
  5. Save your settings

Once enabled, Guidewinds checks weather conditions periodically and displays a weather indicator on your dashboard for upcoming bookings.

Pro Tip

The weather widget on your dashboard shows conditions for the next 7 days at a glance. Look for color-coded indicators — green is clear, yellow means watch, red means alert.

Configuring Safety Thresholds

Define what conditions are unsafe for your trips:

  • Wind speed: Set a maximum wind speed (e.g., cancel when sustained winds exceed 25 mph)
  • Wave height: Maximum wave height for water-based activities
  • Lightning risk: Auto-alert when lightning is detected within a configurable radius
  • Severe weather advisories: Automatically flag bookings when NOAA issues advisories for your area
  • Temperature extremes: Set minimum or maximum temperature thresholds

Set Conservative Thresholds

Err on the side of caution when setting thresholds. It's better to cancel and reschedule than to put anglers in an unsafe situation. You can always override an auto-cancel if conditions improve.

Auto-Cancel Rules

When weather exceeds your thresholds, Guidewinds can automatically cancel affected bookings:

  1. Go to Dashboard → Settings → Weather → Auto-Cancel
  2. Enable auto-cancel for weather events
  3. Choose the timing — how far in advance to cancel (e.g., 6 hours before the trip starts)
  4. Select the action: cancel with full refund, offer reschedule, or notify and let anglers decide
  5. Optionally require your manual approval before auto-cancellations execute

Automatic Refunds

When a weather cancellation occurs, anglers receive an automatic full refund. No manual processing needed — this is handled through your connected Stripe account.

Angler Notifications

Guidewinds keeps anglers informed at every step:

  • Weather watch: An early notification when conditions look questionable (e.g., "We're monitoring weather for your upcoming trip")
  • Cancellation notice: Clear communication explaining the cancellation reason with refund details
  • Reschedule offer: A link to rebook on an alternative date, with any price difference handled automatically
  • All-clear: If conditions improve and the booking proceeds, a confirmation that everything is on

Pro Tip

Anglers appreciate proactive communication about weather. Even if you don't cancel, sending a "weather watch" notification shows you care about their experience and safety.

What's Next?

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