WeatherBug

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Screenshot of WeatherBug version 6.05.

WeatherBug is a downloadable software for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X which displays the current temperature and alerts users to any severe weather warnings issued by the National Weather Service. These alerts are oftened received far in advance of traditional alerting services that are operated by municipalities, townships, etc. The program also offers radar images, forecasting, and seasonal features such as coverage of hurricanes and winter storms. WeatherBug has also launched a mobile version of its product for cell phones across many North American wireless carriers.

WeatherBug, in its current form, was created by AWS Convergence Technologies, Inc. in 2000. The company had been distributing weather data since the early 1990s.

Popularity

WeatherBug claims to be the most popular real-time source for online weather information on the Internet, with an average of 21 million unique monthly users. This data is based on a report generated for the WeatherBug corporation by the online marketing consultancy firm comScore in March 2005. In reality WeatherBug is the only real-time source for online weather information in sharp contrast to its competitors that do not own and operate their own network of weather reporting stations.

According to Alexa, a website traffic clearinghouse, in September 2006 Weatherbug.com ranked 5,604 in traffic among all websites. [1] In comparison, Weather.com, the website of The Weather Channel ranked 112, [2] Noaa.gov, the website of the U.S. government agency NOAA ranks 378 [3] and Accuweather.com ranks 610 [4]. WeatherBug's main consumer product offering, however, has been via the desktop application that must be downloaded, not a webpage. WeatherBug's new community oriented website located at www.weatherbug.com is a new consumer facing site that is a very welcome and excellent alternative to those that are reluctant to download software these days.

Spyware, adware, and other concerns

One spyware/adware detector, CtrSpy, lists WeatherBug as "low risk adware", [5]. Spywareguide.com further clarifies the situation by calling WeatherBug "ad-supported software" and that while it generates no "pop-ups," it does "display advertising in its own window." [6]

McAfee VirusScan says that a PUP is in the Temporary Internet Files (or Cache) at the download page of WeatherBug. McAfee SiteAdvisor also considered WeatherBug to have spyware and/or adware.

WeatherBug has also drawn ire from IT support technicians that it, and software included with it, resists uninstallation. Of further concern to IT departments is the significant amount of network traffic generated by WeatherBug. Though this is not due to malicious intent, in fact it is a by-product of the constant weather data updates, it does consume network resources for a purpose which is generally not work related. [7]

In response to spyware concerns, the company published a webpage in which WeatherBug makes a claim that their software is neither spyware nor adware, on the contention that there is a "lack of a standard definition" and that the ads in the free version are not served based on surfing habits. The page goes on to state that adware, per se, is software which gathers "customer data" and transmits that back to a server. [8]

WeatherBug offers a "plus" version at a cost of $19.95US per year which contains no advertisements.

WeatherBug Network

The WeatherBug Network (which actually predates the WeatherBug desktop application by seven years) is a series of approximately 8,000 weather stations, located in regions across the United States. Most of these stations are operated by schools and governed by a local television station, who gains exclusive rights for the region to use the network data. These weather stations return data when a WeatherBug or TV station queries the weather station, which makes the Weatherbug data more of a real-time reading than National Weather Service observations, which have to report the data in the form of METAR observations. The WeatherBug network's observations, however, are generally recognized to be somewhat less accurate than official METAR observations. This is because, unlike government-operated observation sites, WeatherBug sites are not standardized to the same high level of calibration.

The WeatherBug Network is most heavily concentrated along the Eastern Seaboard megalopolis, as well as around major cities in the United States. (A high concentration can be found around Washington, DC and Buffalo, New York, for example.)

Weatherbug is compatible with both its own network of 8000 stations and the roughly 1000 National Weather Service stations.

Homeland Security cooperation

In 2002, AWS Convergence Technologies, Inc., the National Weather Service and the Department of Homeland Security entered into a public-private agreement so that the Weatherbug stations could be used by Homeland Security to assess weather conditions in the event of a disaster. The relationship was sought because of the much higher resolution of the WeatherBug network in many areas (WeatherBug stations are often located within a few miles of each other, while NWS stations usually have about 30 to 50 miles between each other). Thus, the combined network of National Weather Service and WeatherBug networks is often referred to as the "Homeland Security WeatherBug Network" (HSWN). [9]

Content

The Weatherbug Network data is distributed two ways: via the downloaded program and via a recently developed Web service [10]. Both provide similar products:

• Live conditions from stations in the weather network (temperature, dew point/relative humidity, wind velocity, precipitation and barometer pressure). In older versions of the AWS Web site, sunlight measurement is also available.
• Radar, satellite, and temperature maps
• Forecasts from the National Weather Service

Differences between the downloadable program and the Web service:

• The program can sound an audible alert when the National Weather Service issues a watch, warning or advisory.
• The Web service has its data available in RSS, which allows users to read forecasts from an RSS reader or to integrate the data into a Web site.
• The Web service, through its affiliates, offer interactive data maps using Java applets. An example is this national map, which is no longer linked on the AWS site but has not been purged from the server.

Coverage

The free program is only for U.S. cities, while other versions of the software offer international locations.

Television Affiliates

• Austin, TX: KXAN NBC 36
• Boston, MA: WBZ CBS 4
• Washington, D.C.: WJLA ABC 7/ News Channel 8
• Detroit, MI: WXYZ ABC 7
• Dallas-Fort Worth, TX: WFAA ABC 8
• Grand Rapids, MI: WOOD NBC 8
• Houston, TX: KHOU CBS 11
• Las Vegas, NV: KLAS CBS 8
• Seattle, WA: KING NBC 5
• St. Louis, MO: KMOV CBS 4
• Minneapolis, MN: KSTP ABC 5
• Baltimore, MD: WMAR ABC 2
• Springfield, MA: WWLP NBC 22
• Providence, RI: WPRI CBS 12/ WNAC FOX/MNTV
• Hartford, CT: WTNH ABC 8/ WCTX MNTV 59
• Scranton, PA: WBRE NBC 28/ WYOU CBS 22
• Ft. Myers, FL: WZVN ABC 7/ WBBH NBC 2
• Albuquerque, NM: KOB-TV NBC 4
• Cleveland, OH: WOIO CBS 19
• Baton Rouge, LA: WBRZ News 2 ABC
• El Paso, TX: KTSM-TV NBC 9
• Buffalo, NY: WIVB CBS 4
• Memphis, TN: WREG CBS 3
• Greensboro, NC:WFMY CBS 2
• Columbus, OH: WBNS CBS 10
• Chicago, IL: WMAQ-TV NBC 5
• Pensacola, FL: WEAR-TV ABC 3

Former affiliates

• Syracuse, NY: WTVH-TV CBS 5 (network remains in operation even though TV station has disconnected with the program)
• Raleigh, NC: WNCN-TV NBC 17 (Network left affiliation when they received new management)

External links

• Weatherbug official Web site
• AWS Convergence Technologies official Web site