Real-time lightning monitoring, automated team alerts, auditable safety records, and all-clear countdowns, powered by Vaisala's lightning detection network, trusted by the FAA and the National Weather Service. Any coordinates, any country. Live the same day.
StrikeWatch monitored all 16 FIFA World Cup 2026 stadiums across the United States, Mexico, and Canada in real time - tracking thousands of lightning events across simultaneous venues during the largest sporting event on Earth. That same infrastructure, powered by Vaisala's FAA-grade detection network, now protects your venue. No stadium price tag required.
StrikeWatch is an independent information service and is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or connected to FIFA or any of its tournaments.
Every outdoor venue faces the same problem. The question isn't whether lightning will disrupt your operations - it's whether you'll be prepared when it does.
Lightning injuries at venues and events regularly result in lawsuits exceeding $2 million. Without a documented lightning safety protocol and real-time monitoring, you have no defense. StrikeWatch provides an auditable, timestamped record of every decision.
Resuming play too early means evacuating again minutes later. Every unnecessary suspension costs revenue, disrupts schedules, and erodes trust. StrikeWatch's precise strike tracking minimizes false positives and gives you a clear countdown to safe resumption.
Traditional lightning detection systems require $10,000–$30,000 in sensors, sirens, and installation - per site. World tours can't ship hardware to every city. Construction firms can't install sensors on every crane. StrikeWatch is pure software: enter any coordinates on Earth and you're live.
If your people are outside and lightning is a risk, StrikeWatch gives you the intelligence to make the call.
Stadiums, training grounds, school athletics
World tours, open-air concerts, festivals - one subscription, every venue, every country
Crane operations, rooftop work, OSHA compliance
Pro tours, country clubs, municipal courses
Outdoor rides, water parks, guest safety
Athletic programs, recreation, municipal duty of care
Golf courses face the highest lightning risk of any outdoor venue - roughly 1 in 3,000 odds of a strike incident per course per year, nearly 250 times the general population's risk. StrikeWatch was built to close that gap without the five-figure hardware bill.
Your players are dispersed across the entire property - back nine, practice range, halfway house. Marshals can't reach everyone by radio or horn before a storm arrives. StrikeWatch alerts every registered phone the instant conditions change, no chasing carts required.
Pro shop, marshals, superintendent, F&B, and maintenance all get the same alert at the same moment. Suspension and restart become a coordinated operation instead of a scramble - and the decision is documented automatically.
The 30-minute all-clear countdown eliminates the "is it safe yet?" guesswork that delays course reopening and costs green-fee revenue. Every staff member sees the same clock, counting from the most recent strike inside your radius.
Perry Weather and Thor Guard installations run $12,000+ per site before the first month of software - out of reach for most municipal and semi-private courses. StrikeWatch delivers equivalent Vaisala-powered protection from $249/month, with same-day setup, no hardware, and a documented audit trail for liability defense.
No installation. No technician visit. No hardware order. Just coordinates and a browser.
Tell us where your venue is. We support any location on Earth - from New York to Tokyo, London to São Paulo. Same setup, same precision, anywhere.
StrikeWatch connects to Vaisala's global lightning detection network - the same professional-grade infrastructure used by the National Weather Service, airlines, and power utilities. Coverage spans every continent.
Receive real-time alerts at configurable thresholds: 20-mile watch, 10-mile warning, 8-mile suspension. Plus a 30-minute clear-to-play countdown after the last strike.
See why venues are switching from legacy hardware to software-based lightning intelligence.
Every venue manager has heard it: "We just check a weather app." Here's what that answer costs when it matters.
Start with the question a plaintiff's attorney will ask: can you prove you were monitoring? Every StrikeWatch alert, decision point, and all-clear is documented with timestamps - a complete, auditable record of your venue's response. When a lawsuit arrives (and in lightning safety, they do - settlements routinely reach $1–5 million), a free weather app on someone's phone provides zero evidence. StrikeWatch provides the audit trail.
Then there's the human factor. A free app alerts one phone - if that person happens to check it. StrikeWatch notifies your entire operation simultaneously: pro shop, marshals, superintendent, F&B, maintenance. No one has to remember to look. No single point of human failure.
A consumer app tells you "lightning nearby." StrikeWatch gives you operational protocol: configurable professional thresholds - 8-mile suspension, 10-mile warning, 20-mile watch - matching your venue's written safety policy exactly. And when the storm passes, the 30-minute clear-to-resume countdown answers the question every staff member is asking: when does the course reopen? When can the crew go back up? When do outdoor activities resume? One clock, visible to everyone, counting from the most recent strike.
Finally, consider what happens when equipment fails. Perry Weather and Thor Guard depend on on-site hardware - sensors, sirens, cameras. If that hardware goes down during a storm (exactly when you need it most), you lose coverage. StrikeWatch has nothing on your site to break, maintain, or replace: it connects directly to Vaisala's nationwide network of 113+ sensors.
"In a courtroom, 'I had a weather app on my phone' is not a defense. A documented safety monitoring system is."
Perry Weather is the "Official Weather Platform of the PGA." Their clients include NASA, MLB, Amazon Air, and Turner Construction. But their per-site installation costs $12,000+ before you pay the first month of software. Thor Guard systems start at $11,000 per installation. StrikeWatch delivers the same Vaisala-powered lightning intelligence - starting at $249/month, no installation, no hardware, no maintenance.
| StrikeWatch | Perry Weather | Thor Guard | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Installation cost | $0 | $12,060 per site | $11,282 per site |
| Annual software cost | From $2,988/year | $3,500–$7,800/year | $1,700/year |
| Maintenance | None | Included | $800/year per site |
| Hardware required | None - software only | Weather stations, sirens, cameras | Electromagnetic sensor array |
| Setup time | Same day | 2–4 weeks | 2–4 weeks |
| Single point of failure | No (Vaisala national network) | Yes (on-site hardware) | Yes (on-site sensor) |
| Audit trail | Automatic, timestamped | Platform-dependent | Prediction only, no tracking |
Perry Weather and Thor Guard pricing from City of Denton, TX RFP 6942 public procurement records.
These are real, ongoing cases. Ask your insurer what a documented lightning safety protocol is worth.
In July 2025, a 28-year-old golfer was struck and killed by lightning during a tournament at Ballyowen Golf Club in New Jersey. The wrongful death lawsuit, filed December 2025, alleges the course lacked "functional weather-monitoring and lightning-detection systems." The case is ongoing.
A wrongful death lawsuit against Bentwood Golf Club in Georgia alleges the club failed to have weather monitoring, warning sirens, or lightning detection equipment.
Golf course lightning strike odds are approximately 1 in 3,000 - nearly 250 times higher than the general population (1 in 700,000). Settlements in venue lightning cases routinely reach $1 to $5 million.
The question is not whether your venue can afford a lightning safety system. It's whether it can afford not to have one.
No setup fees. No hardware costs. No hidden charges. Save 2 months with annual billing. Cancel any time.
No setup fees · first invoice after go-live
No setup fees · first invoice after go-live
No setup fees · first invoice after go-live
Launch pricing available - ask on your demo call. Prefer a walkthrough first? Book a demo below.
$249 per venue per month for a Single Site, $499 per month Multi-Site (up to 5 sites), $999 per month Portfolio. No setup fees, your first invoice comes only after your monitoring is live, annual billing includes two months free, and you can cancel any time.
No. StrikeWatch is software only: we monitor your exact coordinates on the Vaisala global lightning detection network, the same detection standard relied on by aviation and national weather services. Most venues are live within a week.
Siren and prediction systems are on-site hardware, typically $10,000 to $50,000 installed, plus maintenance. StrikeWatch delivers detection-network alerting with nothing on your site to buy, break or maintain, at $249 a month. If you already run a siren, StrikeWatch adds the documented alert trail and staff-wide notifications sirens cannot provide.
Simultaneous SMS and email to every designated person as strikes cross 20 miles (watch), 10 miles (warning) and 8 miles (suspend), then a 30-minute all-clear countdown from the most recent strike. Every alert is logged with a timestamp.
StrikeWatch is decision-support, not a substitute for your own protocol: your venue keeps its own written lightning policy and makes its own decisions. What StrikeWatch adds is the professional detection source and the timestamped record that lets you demonstrate exactly when you knew and what you did, aligned with the approach in NWS, CISA and NFHS guidance.
Yes. StrikeWatch monitored all sixteen stadiums of the 2026 FIFA World Cup in real time, logging 3,069 cloud-to-ground strikes and 315 safety status changes across the tournament. StrikeWatch is independent and not affiliated with FIFA.
Tell us about your operation and we'll get you set up. No setup fees; your first invoice comes only after your monitoring is live.