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AccuWeather |
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| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1962 |
| Founder(s) | Joel N. Myers |
| Headquarters | State College, Pennsylvania, USA |
| Website | AccuWeather.com |
AccuWeather is an American media company that provides for profit weather forecasting services worldwide.
AccuWeather was founded in 1962 by Dr. Joel N. Myers, then a Penn State graduate student working on degrees in meteorology. His first customer was a gas company in Pennsylvania. While running the company, Myers also became a member of Penn State's meteorology faculty. The company adopted the name "AccuWeather" in 1971.
AccuWeather is 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 forecasters.1
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AccuWeather markets weather products and services, with 175,000 clients worldwide in media, business and government.2 It also runs the free, advertising-supported website AccuWeather.com, an online weather provider. The company claims that the AccuWeather brand and weather are presented to over 110 million people every day. AccuWeather employs 404 persons, of whom 113 are meteorologists.
AccuWeather's forecasts and services are based on weather information derived from numerous sources, including weather observations and data gathered by the National Weather Service and meteorological organizations outside the United States, and from information provided by non-meteorological organizations such as the Environmental Protection Agency and the armed forces.
AccuWeather operates a 24-hour commercially sponsored weather channel known as The Local AccuWeather Channel, which is similar to NBC Weather Plus. The Local AccuWeather Channel launched in 2006 and is currently on the air in 48 markets including New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Philadelphia, San Francisco and Houston.2
The regular weather provider for Bloomberg Television and numerous local TV stations, AccuWeather also provides guest commentary on major TV networks. AccuWeather also provides weather for numerous radio stations and newspapers, including WINS (AM) in New York City, KFWB (AM) in Los Angeles and WBZ (AM) in Boston. During severe-weather episodes, AccuWeather experts have been called upon by television journalists such as Larry King 3, Geraldo Rivera 4, and Greta van Susteren 5 for expert commentary. Many of its broadcast meteorologists, such as Joe Bastardi and Elliot Abrams, are known nationally.
AccuWeather produces local weather videos each day for use on their own web site, on the Local AccuWeather Channel, and on wired Internet and mobile web sites.2 The company is also active in the areas of convergence2 and digital signage.6 They have added a user-contributed video section to their photo gallery.
AccuWeather’s broadcasters include Elliot Abrams, Brett Anderson, Carl Babinski, Joe Bastardi, Kate Bilo, Jack Boston, Dave Bowers, 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, Nikki Stanzione, Katrina Voss, Eric Wilhelm, and Heather Zehr.
AccuWeather does not use the commonly cited wind chill and heat index values. Instead, AccuWeather created a unified value known as The AccuWeather Exclusive RealFeel Temperature(r). 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.7
AccuWeather employees who have been recognized for their services to the profession of meteorology include:
The National Weather Service (NWS) states as their mission the following: "The National Weather Service provides weather, hydrologic, and climate forecasts and warnings for the United States, its territories, adjacent waters and ocean areas, for the protection of life and property and the enhancement of the national economy. NWS data and products form a national information database and infrastructure which can be used by other governmental agencies, the private sector, the public, and the global community." 14
AccuWeather and other members of the Commercial Weather Services Association have from time to time criticized the NWS for what they have claimed is a lack of focus on this mission, often exemplified by NWS activities that are claimed to compete with the private weather companies.
On April 14, 2005 senator Rick Santorum introduced the "National Weather Service Duties Act of 2005" into the U.S. Senate. The legislation would have placed into federal law a definition of the duties of the NWS similar to its stated mission 15 and would have prohibited the NWS from providing products or services for free that the private sector is willing and able to provide (S. 786). The bill did not garner a single co-sponsor, did not come up for a vote and Santorum was subsequently defeated in his re-election bid.
AccuWeather received criticism for their support of the legislation,16 and Santorum received campaign contributions from the privately-held company's president and family.17
Accuweather has also received some criticism from the companies they serve, as some meteorologists feel their service is overpriced and not worth paying for when compared with the free information from the National Weather Service. The National Weather Service generally has a more stringent hiring policy for their meteorologists as well.
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