Terms

Terms of Service

Effective October 11, 2026

Lightning Alarm helps you decide when to suspend outdoor activity and when to resume. These terms say what it does, what it cannot do, and how the subscription and text alerts work.

Read this first: safety

When thunder roars, go indoors.

Lightning Alarm is decision support. It is not a safety system, and it must never be the only thing you rely on. If you hear thunder or see lightning, go to a safe shelter now, whatever the app shows.

It misses lightning. The satellites detect a large share of flashes but not all of them, and they cannot tell a cloud-to-ground strike from a flash inside a cloud. A place can read CLEAR while lightning is near.
Positions are estimates. Location error grows toward the edge of coverage. Coverage is the Americas only. Outside it, the app tells you it cannot watch the place.
Alerts can be late or never arrive. Satellite data, our servers, your carrier, your email provider, your browser or phone, and your power and signal can each delay or stop an alert. A quiet phone does not mean a clear sky.
Official guidance comes first. Follow the National Weather Service, your venue, league, employer or site's own lightning plan, what you can see and hear, and your own judgment. Never go back outside because the app says all clear while thunder is still audible.

Who we are and what these terms cover#

Lightning Alarm is published by BigBalli Consulting ("we", "us"). These terms cover the Lightning Alarm web app at bigballi.com/LightningAlarm/app/ and the lightning alarm service behind it. They are in addition to the BigBalli Consulting terms for all our apps. If the two differ, these terms control for Lightning Alarm.

The Lightning Alarm iPhone app is separate. It is sold and licensed through the App Store under Apple's standard license terms and the BigBalli terms above. The safety notice at the top of this page applies to the iPhone app too.

By using the web app you agree to these terms. If you do not agree, do not use it. You must be at least 18 to subscribe.

What the service does#

You save places on a map. For each place you choose a radius and an all-clear time. Our servers compare the NOAA GOES satellite lightning data with your radius. When lightning is detected inside it, we send a suspend alert. Every new flash inside the radius restarts the all-clear clock. When the clock runs out and the satellites are covering the place, we send an all-clear alert.

The web app also shows the live status, a map with radar, and an incident log of closures you can export. A demo that needs no account shows the status screen for any point you choose. The demo saves nothing and sends no alerts.

The lightning data comes from NOAA satellites and radar from the National Weather Service. We do not control those sources and they can be late, wrong or unavailable.

Accounts and sign-in#

You sign in with a one-time link sent to your email address. There is no password. Anyone who can read that mailbox can sign in as you, so keep it private. One account is for one person.

Give accurate information, including phone numbers you own or control. You are responsible for what happens under your account. You can sign out of every device from Account, and you can delete your account at any time from Account, Delete account.

Subscription, renewal, cancellation and refunds#

The web app is paid. There is no free tier and no free trial. The plans are $9.99 a month or $89 a year. Checkout shows the final price before you pay, and prices include tax where it applies.

Renewal. A subscription renews automatically at the end of each period at the then-current price until you cancel.

Cancellation. Cancel at any time from Account, Manage subscription. You keep access until the end of the period you paid for, and it does not renew. Deleting your account cancels the subscription at once and ends access at once.

Who sells it. Web purchases go through Stripe's Managed Payments, and checkout shows "Sold through Link". Stripe, through Link, is the merchant of record and the seller. It takes your payment, charges and remits sales tax or VAT, sends your receipts, and handles refunds and disputes under its own terms. We never see your card number. Your bank statement may show Link rather than Lightning Alarm.

Refunds. Refunds are handled by Stripe through Link. Ask us at [email protected] and we will help you with the request. If a payment is refunded or a dispute is decided against the charge, the access that payment bought ends. Nothing here limits a refund right that the law gives you.

If a subscription ends. When a subscription is canceled, expires or a payment fails, your places stay saved but they are no longer watched and alerts stop. Turn on a reminder in your own calendar for renewal dates if you depend on the alarm.

The iPhone app is separate. A web subscription does not unlock the iPhone app, and an App Store purchase does not unlock the web app. Neither purchase is shared with the other.

Text message program terms#

Program name: Lightning Alarm alerts.

What we send. Lightning suspend alerts and all-clear alerts for the places you set, and one-time verification codes when you add a number. Nothing else. We send no marketing texts.

Consent. We text a number only after you add it to your account and enter the code we send to it. By adding a number you agree to receive Lightning Alarm alerts and verification codes by text at that number. You can only add a number you own or are authorized to use. Consent to texts is not a condition of subscribing. Email and browser alerts are available instead.

Frequency and cost. Message frequency varies with the weather and with how many places you watch. Message and data rates may apply.

Opt out. Reply STOP to any message to cancel. You can also remove the number in Account, Alerts. After STOP we send no more texts to that number, from any account. To start again, reply START to +1 415 463 1825 and add the number again.

Help. Reply HELP for help, or write to [email protected].

Coverage. United States and Canadian numbers only. Texts come from +1 415 463 1825. Carriers and wireless providers are not liable for delayed or undelivered messages, and delivery is never guaranteed, so see the safety notice above.

Privacy. How we handle your number is in the Privacy Policy. Mobile phone numbers and SMS opt-in consent are not shared with or sold to third parties or affiliates for marketing purposes.

Acceptable use#

You agree not to:

scrape, crawl or bulk-download the service by automated means, or use a bot to create accounts or request sign-in links or codes;
resell, sublicense or redistribute the service, its alerts or its data, or run it as a service for others without our written permission;
bypass or test the limits on places, texts, codes, exports or requests, or probe the service for weaknesses;
add a phone number or email address that is not yours, or use the service to send messages to people who have not agreed to get them;
use the service in a way that breaks the law or harms anyone, or interferes with the service for others.

The lightning data is public NOAA data. Our software, design and text belong to us. You may use them for your own alerts and for your own organization's internal use.

Availability and changes to the service#

We work to keep the service running around the clock, but we do not promise it will be uninterrupted, on time or error free. We may change, limit or end any part of it, and we may suspend an account that breaks these terms or puts the service at risk. If we stop offering the web version, we will give at least 30 days' notice by email and refund the unused part of any yearly subscription.

No warranty and limit of liability#

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE". TO THE FULLEST EXTENT THE LAW ALLOWS, WE GIVE NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ACCURACY, TIMELINESS AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT ANY LIGHTNING WILL BE DETECTED, THAT ANY STATUS WILL BE CORRECT, OR THAT ANY ALERT WILL BE SENT OR RECEIVED.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT THE LAW ALLOWS, WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR FOR PERSONAL INJURY, DEATH, PROPERTY DAMAGE OR LOST DATA OR PROFIT, ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICE, OR FROM A MISSED, LATE OR WRONG STATUS OR ALERT, EVEN IF WE WERE TOLD THEY WERE POSSIBLE. OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM IS LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT YOU PAID FOR THE WEB VERSION IN THE ONE MONTH BEFORE THE EVENT THAT GAVE RISE TO THE CLAIM.

Some places do not allow these limits, and then they apply only as far as the law permits. Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law. You agree that you, and the people you are responsible for, decide when to take shelter and when to resume, and that the service only informs that decision.

Governing law and disputes#

These terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to its conflict-of-law rules. Disputes are handled as set out in the dispute resolution section of the BigBalli Consulting terms: first informal negotiation, then arbitration or the courts of San Francisco County, California as described there. You can also write to us first at [email protected] and we will try to fix it.

Changes to these terms#

We may update these terms. The date at the top shows the current version. If a change is significant, we will tell you by email or in the app before it takes effect. If you keep using the service after that, you accept the new terms. If you do not accept them, cancel and delete your account.

Contact#

BigBalli Consulting. Questions about these terms, billing help and text message help: [email protected]. Privacy questions: [email protected].