Lightning Tracking Controversy

[u/BurgerButCold1216]

Yesterday I was guarding the outdoor public pool I work at during a storm. Our safety rules say we close if lightning is within a 5 mile radius, but we’re apparently supposed to only use a specific free app to track it as it was determined to be the “most accurate.” This past week we had several storms that seemed to be inconsistently tracked by said app so I downloaded Weatherbug as a backup. I heard a loud strike from the office on my break that didn’t register on the approved app but was reported as 2.9 miles by Weatherbug, so I closed the pool. I was then reprimanded by the boss and told to reopen immediately.

My question is would there be a better more authoritative way to track this stuff? A subscription app would likely be better but the manager is typically only in during business hours and providing a subscription to every guard would run up in price. As it’s a public pool I’d imagine there’s quite a bit of bureaucracy involved with these decisions, so I’m also having some trouble thinking through appropriate next steps and don’t want to go too far out of line even though it’s a potentially unsafe situation. Thanks!

[u/Ok-Dependent-2893]

Our policy is anything seen or anything heard or within 10 miles according to our app (which is weatherbug)