Delay, shorten, cancel, or hold

The decision

Outdoor events have a window of about three hours before the start when the real decisions are made. Open the gates or hold the crowd. Start on time, delay by 30 minutes, or shorten the program. Cancel early enough that people do not travel for nothing. For a marathon, an air show, or a concert, every one of these calls affects thousands of people and a schedule that cannot slip far.

Day-ahead forecasts set expectations, but they cannot tell you whether the cell forming 50 km away will cross the venue at 7 pm or pass north of it. That is a three-hour question.

What Odeai gives event operations

Odeai forecasts rain rate over the venue and its approaches, in 10-minute steps, for the next three hours. A new forecast arrives every 10 minutes, so the timeline tightens as the start approaches.

• Before the start: whether rain is expected during arrival, the start, or the main program.
• During the event: when a band of rain is expected to arrive and how long it should last, so a hold can be short and announced with a time.
• Across several sites: the same forecast for each stage, course section, or parking area.

Proof before commitment

Send us a past event date and site. We can replay the forecast Odeai would have issued in the three hours before your start.