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AccuWeather
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The creator of or main contributor to this page may have a conflict of interest with the subject of this article. |
| AccuWeather | |
|---|---|
| Type | Private |
| Founded | 1962 |
| Founder | Joel N. Myers |
| Headquarters | State College, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Website | AccuWeather.com |
AccuWeather is a large American company that provides weather forecasting services. It was founded in 1962 by Dr. Joel N. Myers, then a Penn State graduate student working on degrees in meteorology, who was forecasting weather for a gas company in Pennsylvania. The company became officially known under the name "AccuWeather" in 1971. As well as running the company, Myers became a member of the school's faculty and taught many meteorologists. AccuWeather is still headquartered in State College, Pennsylvania, with a sales office in Fort Washington, Pennsylvania. In 2006, AccuWeather acquired WeatherData, Inc. of Wichita, Kansas. As Weatherdata Services, Inc., an AccuWeather Company, the Wichita facility now houses AccuWeather’s specialized severe weather team.
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AccuWeather employs 404 persons of whom 113 are meteorologists. The staff of forecasters at the AccuWeather headquarters is believed to be the largest staff of operational forecasters under one roof any place in world.
AccuWeather markets diversified products and services, with 175,000 clients worldwide in radio, television, newspapers, business and government. Serving millions more via AccuWeather.com, a free online weather provider, AccuWeather forecasts for 2.7 million locations, across the United States and worldwide. The company projects that the AccuWeather brand and weather are presented to over 110 million people every day.
AccuWeather operates a digital-tier 24-hour weather channel known as The Local AccuWeather Channel, which is similar to NBC Weather Plus. The Local AccuWeather channel launched in 2006 and is syndicated in most of the top 20 markets with another 40 in implementation for the end of 2007.
AccuWeather also provides weather for numerous radio stations and newspapers, including 1010WINS (AM) in New York City, KFWB (AM) in Los Angeles and WBZ (AM) in Boston. Some of its broadcast meteorologists, such as Joe Bastardi and Elliot Abrams, are known nationally. They also supply syndicated forecasting for local TV outlets as well as providing guest commentary on major TV outlets such as Fox News.
AccuWeather produces hundreds of local weather videos each day for use on their web site, Local AccuWeather Channels, and other traditional Internet and mobile web sites. They claim to produce more Spanish-language forecasts each day than any other weather provider in the world. They have added a user-contributed video section to their photo gallery.
The company projects that more than 110 million people every day see the AccuWeather brand and weather.
- Elliot Abrams
- Brett Anderson
- Carl Babinski
- Joe Bastardi
- Kate Bilo
- Jack Boston
- Dave Bowers
- Chuck Caracozza
- Dean DeVore
- Karah Donovan
- John Feerick
- Katie Fehlinger
- Jason Handman
- Maggie Johnson
- Jim Kosek
- Bob Larson
- Michael Leseney
- Henry Margusity
- Melissa Magee
- Byron May
- Josh Nagelberg
- Jacqueline Noto
- Paul Pastelok
- Steve Penstone
- Jon Porter
- Dan Pydynowski
- Bernie Rayno
- Ken Reeves
- Matt Rinde
- Kerry Schwindenhammer
- Dr. Joe Sobel
- Kari Chessario Smith
- Katrina Voss
- Eric Wilhelm
- Heather Zehr
- Weather Detectives with Jacqueline Noto. Discusses how AccuWeather.com forensic meteorologists have assisted in establishing the truth in legal proceedings.
- Headline Earth with Katie Fehlinger. Presents discussions of the science behind the global warming debate. (AccuWeather also contributes space on its website for this discussion at www. global-warming.accuweather.com.)
- Travel Talk with Jason Handman. Weekly reviews of travel destinations around the U.S.
- Entertainment Weather with Karah Donovan. Presents weekend weather and its impact on entertainment options.
- Astronomy with Katrina Voss. Explores scientific topics related to meteor showers, eclipses, prominent constellations and reports on recent news and events in the field of astronomy.
- Weather 101/Weather Whys with Kate Bilo. Educational discussions of how the weather happens and how it impacts the world around us.
- Weather History with Kate Bilo. How precipitation, temperature or wind events have influenced the course of history. .
- Point Counterpoint with Joe Bastardi and Ken Reeves. Offers weather enthusiasts a fresh perspective on the current weather around the country. The Internet's only weather talk show.
AccuWeather has made a number of technical innovations in the the field of meteorology. For example, many of AccuWeather's forecasts replace the commonly cited wind chill and heat index values with a unified value known as The AccuWeather RealFeel Temperature. The formula for calculating this value incorporates the effects of temperature, wind, humidity, sunshine intensity, cloudiness, precipitation and elevation on the human body. AccuWeather has been granted a United States patent on The RealFeel Temperature [[1]].
Many AccuWeather employees have been recognized for their service to the profession of meteorology.
- Elliot Abrams, AccuWeather Chief Forecaster and Senior Vice President, is one of only a few living persons who has earned both the title of Certified Consulting Meteorologist and the AMS Seal of Approval for both radio and television from the American Meteorological Society. He is a member of the AMS Board of Certified Consulting Meteorologists, a Fellow of the AMS [1], and winner of the 1993 AMS award for Outstanding Service by a Broadcasting Meteorologist. [2] In 1996, the National Weather Association named Abrams "Broadcaster of the Year"[3]. In 1994, he won the AMS Charles L. Mitchell Award for “outstanding and unique dissemination of weather forecasts to the nation’s public by radio and television.” [4]
- Dr. Joe Sobel, AccuWeather Senior Vice President, was recognized in 2004 by the AMS for Outstanding Service as a Broadcast Meteorologist[5].
- AccuWeather CEO Barry Lee Myers has been a member of the Board of Directors of the Commercial Weather Services Association, the weather industry’s trade association, since 1990, serving as the industry’s chief federal-relations officer. Barry Lee Myers is recognized as an expert in weather information exchange and public/private relationships in the weather field. He also has served as advisor to the Director of the U.S. National Weather Service at the U.N.’s World Meteorological Organization Meetings in Geneva, Switzerland.
- Dr. Joel N. Myers, AccuWeather Founder, Chairman and President, was awarded the National Weather Association’s Operation Achievement Award in 2004 [6]. Dr. Myers was recognized in 1997 as one of the 528 greatest entrepreneurs in American history in Entrepreneur Magazine’s Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurs [7].
- AccuWeather has received criticism for their legislative efforts against the National Weather Service [2]. AccuWeather has been a vocal critic of the National Weather Service (NWS), a part of the U.S. government's NOAA, because the NWS provides free weather forecasting services to the general public. AccuWeather argues that the government thus competes with them directly and unfairly, and on April 14, 2005 senator Rick Santorum introduced the "National Weather Service Duties Act of 2005" to the U.S. Senate that would prohibit the NWS from providing products or services that the private sector is willing and able to provide (S. 786). The bill did not come up for a vote in the 2005 session.
- AccuWeather Releases Spanish-Language Widgets - Hispanic PRWire(http://www.hispanicprwire.com/news.php?l=in&id=9372&cha=12)
- PC World Ten Must-See iPhone Apps (including AccuWeather iPhone app) http://www.pcworld.com/article/id,135586-c,iphone/article.html
- Ousley, Marvel (2007-04-26). Grab your umbrella, AccuWeather is bringing personal weather to SL. SLNN.COM. Retrieved on 2007-06-25.
- Ten Must-Have Gadgets for Windows Vista Sidebar. PC World. Retrieved on 2007-06-25.
- AccuWeather.com 15-day forecast widget for iPhone and OSX users http://reviews.cnet.com/8301-13549_7-9740071-30.html?tag=head
- ^ http://www.ametsoc.org/memdir/fellowslist/get_listoffellows.cfm
- ^ http://www.ametsoc.org/getpastawards/get_allawards.cfm
- ^ http://www.nwas.org/awards/index.php
- ^ http://www.ametsoc.org/getpastawards/get_allawards.cfm
- ^ http://www.ametsoc.org/getpastawards/get_allawards.cfm
- ^ http://www.nwas.org/awards/index.php
- ^ Anthony Hallett and Diane Hallet. Entrepreneur Magazine Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurs. New York: Wiley, 1997. ISBN 978-0471175360