How to read the morning brief email
The morning brief is one email with a block per saved site: lamp, current wind, worst hour today, peak odds, best window, model agreement and the nearest observation. This guide explains each line and where the lamp comes from.
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Steps
Find the email
It arrives from the address alerts@thewindagent.com with a subject like "Wind brief · 2026-10-05 · 3 sites". It is sent once a day, in the hour you or the agent set, in your first site's timezone. By default that hour is 06:00. If it has not arrived, check spam first, then read the set-up guide linked below.
Read the greeting and summary
The email opens with "Good morning," and your first name. If a summary paragraph is present it comes next. It is optional, at most about 90 words, and is left out when a number in it cannot be traced to the data below. Treat it as a pointer, and read the blocks for the figures.
Start with the top block
Blocks are sorted with STOP first, then UNKNOWN, WATCH, GO and NO RULE. Each block names the area and working height in a small header, then the site name and a lamp chip such as "● STOP" on the right. Read the lamp, then the lines beneath it.
Read the lines in each block
Now gives the speed at your height, direction and the 10 m gust. Worst hour is the peak for the rest of today against your limit. P(exceed) peak gives the highest odds. Best window, Models and Observation follow. Not every line appears for every site.
Open the instrument
Under each block is "Open in the instrument →". It opens /app at that place with its name and mode. It does not carry your height or limit, so set them in the top bar, or open the site from the fleet board or /account to get them filled in.
01Subject, sender and timing
The subject is "Wind brief", the date, and the number of sites, for example "3 sites" or "1 site". The email comes from alerts@thewindagent.com, the same sender as rule alerts. A scan runs every 30 minutes, and your brief goes out in the scan that falls in your chosen local hour, once per day. It covers up to 25 of your saved sites. The brief is a Pro feature, so Starter accounts get no email.
02The lamp on each site
The lamp chip is worked out for the brief only, from two numbers. NO RULE means the site has no limit saved. STOP means the worst hour today reaches the limit, or the highest ensemble odds today are 70% or more. WATCH means those odds are 40% or more. GO means neither applies. UNKNOWN means the forecast did not load, and the block says so. Unlike the fleet board, the brief lamp has no separate within-5-mph step. The lamp is a prompt to look, not a permission.
03Now and Worst hour
Now reads like "12.4 mph at 80 m from 270° · gust 10 m 18.0 mph · 06:00 Europe/Dublin". The first speed is mean wind at your height. The gust is always the 10 m gust. Worst hour finds the highest value over the remaining hours of today, in the metric of your rule: mean speed at your height for a mean rule, or the 10 m gust for a gust rule. With a rule it prints your limit and either EXCEED or under. Without one it says no rule is set. All speeds in the email are in mph, whatever unit you use in the instrument.
04P(exceed) peak
This line appears only when the site has a rule and the ensemble loaded. It gives the highest odds in today's hours, the time, the member count and the level in metres, followed by "uncalibrated member fraction". If the ensemble returned no odds for those hours the line says "not in the packet". That wording means missing, not zero. Odds are a count of ensemble members at or over your limit, not a calibrated chance.
05Best window
When the day has a calmer spell under your limit, a line gives its time range, says no window is under the limit, or names the calmest three hours. It uses the same logic as "The agent noticed" card in the instrument, and is left out when there is nothing useful to say.
06Models and Observation
Models reads "AGREE" with the lowest spread score if the deterministic models agree every hour, or "SPLIT" with the count of hours under 60 out of 100. "spread indicator not in the packet" means there was too little model coverage to score. Observation names the nearest METAR or buoy with its age, distance and speed and the 10 m model value for the same hour. Its colour changes when the report is over 90 minutes old or differs from the model by 5 mph or more, but the words do not change. No station within 150 km, or a failed station feed, is stated plainly and the model is unchecked that morning.
07Changing the brief
There is no brief toggle on /account. Ask the agent, for example "turn off my morning brief" or "send it at 7", and it saves the setting immediately without a confirm button. The agent panel also has a "Preview my morning brief" link under "What I remember", which opens today's brief in a new tab and sends nothing. By default the brief is on once any of your sites has a rule.
08What the brief never does
It does not tell you to start or stop work, and it does not supply a limit. The footer says the figures are modelled forecasts, that ensemble probabilities are uncalibrated member fractions, and that gust is a 10 m value. The limit is the number you typed from your own document, and the decision is yours.
Questions
How often is the brief sent?
Once a day, in the scan that falls in the local hour you set, and never twice on the same day. The default is 06:00 in the timezone of your first site. It is sent only on Pro, Ops or Enterprise, and needs a saved site.
What does P(exceed) peak mean?
It is the highest ensemble odds today that wind reaches your limit, with the hour it occurs and how many members were counted. It is a raw member fraction, uncalibrated. A site with no rule has no such line.
Why does a block say NO RULE?
The site has no limit saved. Without a limit the brief cannot compare anything, so it shows the current wind and the worst hour as plain values. Name the limit in the rule editor, from /alerts or the fleet board, and the next brief shows a lamp.
What if the Observation line says UNKNOWN?
The station feed did not answer that morning, so the model could not be checked against a real report. A different line, "No station with wind within 150 km", means the feed answered but nothing near you reported wind. Neither is calm.
What does SPLIT mean in the Models line?
At least one hour today had a spread score under 60 out of 100, meaning the deterministic models disagreed. The line gives the number of such hours and the lowest score. It is a signal to treat the day with less confidence.