Code of conduct
Quad County Weather is built around public safety, timely weather awareness, and respectful community help. This Code of Conduct explains what we expect from members, how strikes work, and what each moderation tier means.
Last updated: September 7, 2026
1. Community expectations
- Share weather reports, closures, photos, and comments honestly and in good faith.
- Do not submit false, exaggerated, copied, or intentionally misleading weather information.
- Do not harass, threaten, impersonate, bully, dox, or target other users, staff, public officials, schools, businesses, or emergency responders.
- Do not spam, flood forms, abuse live chat, or interfere with storm reporting and alert operations.
- Do not upload illegal, graphic, hateful, sexually explicit, or unrelated content.
- Do not try to bypass a warning, suspension, or ban by creating another account, using another email address, using another phone number, or asking someone else to post for you.
2. How strikes work
A strike is an account record staff may add when a user violates this Code of Conduct, the Terms of Service, or community safety rules. Strikes help staff apply moderation consistently instead of making every decision from scratch.
| Strike count | What it usually means | Typical result |
|---|---|---|
| 0 strikes | The account is in good standing. | Normal access. |
| 1 strike | A minor or first-time issue happened, such as an inappropriate report, mild spam, or a rule reminder after content removal. | Warning, content removal, or short restriction depending on severity. |
| 2 strikes | The account has repeated problems or a more serious single incident. | Temporary suspension from member features such as live chat and reports. |
| 3 strikes | The account continued violating rules after warnings or a prior suspension. | Extended suspension, probation, or permanent suspension for serious cases. |
| 4 or more strikes | The account shows a pattern of abuse or serious safety risk. | Permanent suspension is likely. |
Staff may skip strike steps for severe threats, intentional weather hoaxes, malicious data sabotage, illegal activity, evasion, or conduct that risks public safety during active weather.
3. Moderation tiers
| Tier | Status | What it means | Member access |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tier 0 | Active | No active moderation restriction. | Normal account, app, report, and notification access. |
| Tier 1 | Warning / content removal | Staff removed content or issued a rule reminder. This may be informal or logged as a strike. | Account usually remains active. Staff may remove the specific content or report. |
| Tier 2 | Temporary suspension | A cooling-off period, usually 24 hours to 7 days, for repeat or disruptive behavior. | The user is logged out and blocked from member-only features until the suspension expires. |
| Tier 3 | Extended suspension | A longer restriction, usually around 30 days, for repeated violations or more serious incidents. | The user is logged out and blocked from member-only features until staff review or expiration. |
| Tier 4 | Permanent suspension | Reserved for repeat abuse, severe harassment, malicious hoaxes during severe weather, spam bots, account evasion, or intentional harm to QCW systems or users. | The user cannot use the account. Reactivation requires manual staff review. |
4. Login messages and account access
Temporarily suspended users may see a message showing that the account is suspended until a listed date and time. Permanently suspended users may see a message that the account has been permanently suspended due to repeated violations or community safety concerns.
When staff place an account into a temporary or permanent suspension, active member sessions may be revoked immediately. The user may need to sign in again after a temporary suspension expires.
5. Ban and suspension evasion
Creating or using another account to get around a suspension, permanent ban, report restriction, live chat restriction, or staff instruction is not allowed. QCW may use account details, contact information, session records, device or notification tokens, IP addresses, staff notes, and other safety signals available to us to detect abuse and protect the service.
If a new account uses contact information connected to a currently suspended or banned account, registration may be blocked and staff may keep the account under review.
6. Appeals and reactivation
If you believe a warning, suspension, or ban was applied by mistake, contact QCW support and include the account email, what happened, and why you believe the decision should be reviewed. Permanent bans are not automatically reversed; reactivation requires manual staff review.
Appeals may be denied when the account presents a safety risk, shows a pattern of abuse, or attempted to bypass a restriction.
7. Contact
Questions about this Code of Conduct can be sent through the contact page. Related information is available in our Privacy Policy.