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Weather Star XL

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Template:Infobox generic The Weather Star XL (also simply "XL") is the fifth system designed for The Weather Channel's local forecast. At its rollout in 1998, it came months after a major update to the channel's presentation. The Star XL was a major leap over the much older Weather Star 4000 system, featuring advanced capabilities such as transitions, moving icons, cloud wallpaper backgrounds, and reading the local forecast contents. The WeatherStar XL first appeared in a beta roll out on select cable systems in November of 1998 and appeared briefly in Latin America on that version of TWC until its demise.[1]

Technical

The Weather Star XL is a rack-mounted rendering computer, manufactured by Silicon Graphics, Inc., containing a modified SGI O2 computer. The Weather Star XL utilizes the SGI IRIX Operating System with custom written software for The Weather Channel. Because of the proprietary SGI hardware and software, the Weather Star XL remains the most expensive STAR system, having a manufacturing cost of $6,500 US. The Weather Star XL is still in use today, however very few remain as many cable companies have replaced it with the newer, cheaper, and superior IntelliStar.

File:Weather Star XL Latin America.png
The Weather Star XL on TWC Latin America

The Weather Star XL receives raw video data from The Weather Channel and weather statements from the National Weather Service, as well as forecasts from an Internet connection. It sends back monitoring data to The Weather Channel.[2] Its crawl controller (which manages the text for local advertising) is accessible via a modem and terminal/terminal emulator. In Latin America, TWC only used satellite to deliver the service.[3]

The Weather Star XL has two drives; one drive is marked as property of The Weather Channel and contains a serial number.

The Weather Star XL took several years to design and encountered countless issues and set backs. Internal disorganization push the initial release further than anticipated.

Products

A product displays certain types of weather data. Some products were added on later in the life of the Star XL.

  • Current Conditions The current temperature, weather conditions, wind speed and gusts (if any), barometric pressure, dew point, humidity, ceiling, visibility, and (if applicable) the wind chill/heat index.
  • Weather Bulletins (added January 2002) Shows any watches, warnings, or advisories from the National Weather Service in effect for your area. If there are none, this product doesn't display. Before 2002, these were displayed at the front of the 36-Hour Forecast, but was moved by TWC because of text running over with the NOAA logo.
  • Latest Observations (branded Current Conditions) The current temperature, weather conditions, and wind speed in 7 nearby cities/locations and the primary observation site.
  • Regional Conditions (branded Current Conditions) The current temperature and weather conditions for 7-10 cities in the region.
  • Radar Shows any precipitation in the area and its movement over the course of 3 hours, up from 90 minutes on the Weather Star 4000.
  • Almanac Shows the local sunrise and sunset times for the day and the next day, as well as moon phase data. Calculated on the Weather Star, and thus unique in that the data never expires.
  • Tides (in coastal areas) Used instead of the Almanac in most coastal areas. Shows the day's low and high tide times for two locations in the area, as well as the local sunrise and sunset times.
  • Marine Forecast (select coastal areas) Similar to the version used on the 4000. Shows the forecast winds (in knots), wave heights, and any marine warnings for area waters for the day. Data was provided by TWC meteorologists along the coasts. Discontinued 2002.
  • Air Quality Forecast (southern California only) Similar to the version used on the 4000. On the left of the screen, three locations are given. On the right, there is a bar graph with four color coded and labeled background sections (yellow: Good, light orange: Mod. Risk, dark orange: Unhealthy, red: Very Unhealthy). The amount of pollutants in psi (pounds per square inch) is given as a number inside each bar. It is unclear as to whether or not this product is still used. If it has been discontinued, it was likely around the same time as the Marine Forecast.
  • Daypart Forecast (added March 2002) The forecast temperature, weather conditions, and winds at four points either for that night or the next day.
  • Regional Forecast The forecast temperature and weather conditions for 7-10 cities in the region.
  • Metro Forecast (added July 2002;select urban areas) The forecast temperature and weather conditions for the main city and 7-9 nearby suburbs/locations. Replaces the Regional Forecast.
  • Local Forecast/36-Hour Forecast The forecast for the next 24-36 hours in your area. Provided by the National Weather Service until January 2002; the replacement of the NWS product was justified as an alignment with TWC forecast products and as being designed for an area and not a county.
  • Extended Forecast The forecast for the next three days, starting the day after the next (if shown on a Monday, the forecast will be for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday).
  • The Week Ahead (added March 2002) The forecast for the next 7 days (including the current day) from Sunday through Saturday.

The STAR also displays these items:

  • Advertising tags with localized addresses for retailers.
  • Tagging products, such as a pollen levels report.
  • A lower display line with current conditions and forecast information. The LDL, as it is abbreviated, was redesigned in 2003 and received a specific version with more information for non-weather programs like Storm Stories.
  • NWS bulletin crawls. There are four types of crawls: red (Severe Thunderstorm Warnings, Tornado Warnings, generic Weather Bulletins), orange (Urban & Small Stream Flood Advisory, Hurricane Local Statement), yellow (Severe Thunderstorm Watches and Tornado Watches), and gray (a color used for testing, using the following text: "The Weather Channel and the National Weather Service are conducting a test of the display of Severe Weather Watch information. This is only a test."). Gray crawls are not output to viewers.

Other Weather Stars can display these items (but NWS bulletins sometimes scroll full-screen).

Products displayed on TWC Latin America included the following (Spanish titles, though Portuguese versions were available):

  • Condiciones actuales (Current Conditions) (also included a regional version)
  • A Latest Observations product, also branded "Condiciones actuales"
  • Pronóstico para ____ (Forecast for ____) (comes in both local (24-36 hour) and regional versions)
  • Satélite (Satellite)
  • Pronóstico extendido (Extended Forecast) (3 days)
  • Mareas (Tides)[4]
  • Pronóstico Marino (Marine Forecast) (winds, wave height, and water temperature)
  • Almanaques (Almanacs) (solar and lunar)

Timeline

File:Weather Star XLv1.png
The Weather Star XL's first appearance, between 1999 and 2001

Late 1998

  • The Weather Star XL first appears on select cable company headends after exiting beta earlier in the year. The XL's graphics first appeared in a The Front commercial from 1998. (The Front was much like a sports bar, but only with weather; it served as the primary advertising campaign for TWC in 1997 and 1998.)[5]

Late 1999

  • Weatherscan Local debuts on some cable systems as a 24-hour channel showing weather information on a loop. Weatherscan Local launches on Star XL hardware.[6]

Early 2000

  • The Vocal Local system debuts, using the voice of TWC staff announcer Allen Jackson to read current conditions and extended forecast information. Some XLs do not feature Vocal Local.

May 2000

  • The shadow effect is added to the precipitation on the radar segments.

2000

  • Weatherscan Local receives a complete relaunch, giving it a myriad of customizable weather packages and a new look. Among the packages: extra area forecasts, activity forecasts, health information, aviation, international weather conditions, the forecast in Spanish, gardening information, surf and marine information, national travel weather, and airport delays and conditions.

July 2001

  • The radar is updated to show more frames. It now shows approximately 30 frames instead of the previous 8-10 frames it used to show.
File:Weather Star XLv2.png
The Weather Star XL with the graphics introduced in the September 2001 update

September 2001[7]

  • The Weather Channel and the Star XL get new graphics. Some XL systems got this upgrade in March 2002, and at least one XL unit only received the update partially until July 2002, intermittently losing Vocal Local and retaining the old regional forecast animation and maps.[8]
    • The date and time are repositioned to make way for larger title bars.
    • A new cloud wallpaper is added.
    • weather.com is added underneath the Weather Channel's logo.
    • The maps are no longer topographical. (Compare this link with this link). However, one XL unit- serving Petoskey, Michigan - did not receive this upgrade, but does have current XL graphics as of September 2008. [9]

2002

  • The Marine Forecasts on the XL and 4000 have been discontinued.

March 2002[10]

  • A daypart forecast and 7 day extended forecast known as the "Week Ahead" is introduced. The 3-day extended forecast still displays during the 90 second forecast segment.
  • On the 1 minute flavor, the regional conditions map is replaced by the daypart forecast.
  • The radar has been repositioned from the end of the forecast to the middle right after the current conditions. This applies to all flavors except the 60 second forecast segment.
  • The margins on the 3-day extended forecast page are widened slightly. As a result, phrases such as "Partly Cloudy" and "Mostly Cloudy" are now fit into one line as opposed to two like before this update.
  • If no gusts are reported, "none" would display for gusts on the lower display line during local forecasts and national broadcasts. This no longer happens. Instead, the gusts are not shown on the LDL if no gusts are reported.
  • The watch expiration phrase for severe weather watches has been changed. For example: "SAT 0900 PM EDT" becomes "9:00 PM EDT Saturday."
  • A Pollen Levels tagging product is introduced.
  • Some glitches involving ad tags are fixed.
  • The moon icons in the Almanac are now displayed correctly for the Northern Hemisphere.

April 2002[11]

  • The forecasts on the system now come directly from The Weather Channel, instead of the National Weather Service.
    • As a result, weather bulletins are now shown on a dedicated page. Bulletins include advisories, watches, statements, and warnings.
  • Some icons, such as "variably cloudy" and "PM clouds" are discontinued. "AM Clouds PM Sun" is slightly modified.

July 2002[12]

  • The regional conditions map, that shows the current weather conditions for the surrounding region, is discontinued.
  • In the top 30 DMAs, the regional forecast map, which shows the forecast for select cities throughout a region, is discontinued and is replaced by a metro forecast map. This shows forecast for select cities in a city's metropolitan area within a 75-100 mile radius.

Early 2003

  • The text that is used on the station ID becomes bolder and slightly larger. Some of the old 1999 text is still in use until later on in the year.

April 2003[13]

  • The "AM," "PM," and "FEW" variations to the weather icons are introduced to the forecast maps; live national broadcasts also received this upgrade.
  • The "AM" and "PM" variations to the weather icons on the lower display line have been modified. They are now in lower-case white text. Previously, they were in uppercase in a white-to-light blue gradient. The national broadcasts, as well as weather.com, however, received this upgrade a month or two earlier.
  • The 36 hour forecast segment has been modified so it is easier to understand. Previously, if the forecast for a time period were to split into two pages (due to its length) it would split in a middle of a sentence. Now, whenever possible, it would split to two pages in between each sentence. A line break was added between each time period.

June 2003[14]

  • On the 1 minute forecast, the daypart forecast and regional/metro forecast screens are replaced by a two page text-based forecast.

September 27, 2003[15]

  • The lower display line (LDL) graphic that is shown on live national forecasts is redesigned. It is now black and opaque (previously translucent) and the logo appears on the graphic for the first time in Weather Star history.
  • During programming such as Storm Stories, more detailed information is provided on the lower display line.

September 29, 2003

  • The lower display line is now shown for all national segments (except if there is a weather watch, warning, or statement in effect). Previously the LDL was only shown if there was no information on the bottom of the forecast maps that the LDL may block (with either red or orange).

September 2004

  • The 3-day "extended forecast" segment is discontinued.

August 15, 2005[16]

  • The XL gets new graphics once again, now featuring a modernized TWC logo, a sunny background, and new title bars. "weather.com" is moved from underneath the TWC logo to a new position underneath the title bar of each screen's segment.
  • During the Severe Weather Alerts in the "Weather Bulletin" page, the NOAA logo is removed, leaving only the National Weather Service.
  • In certain areas, the narration is a second ahead, thus leaving a one-second gap after each narration.

Late August-Early September 2005

  • On the regional and metro forecast maps, many cities are added and removed - the IntelliStar also received this upgrade.

February 21, 2006

  • Since the 90 second forecast is brought back, the 3-day extended forecast returns to the XL at :18 and :48 after the hour.

June 26, 2006

  • The 3-day extended forecast is once again discontinued due to another discontinuation of the 90-second forecast.

January 23, 2007

  • As with the IntelliStar, the XL begins showing wintry precipitation on the radar. However, the precipitation key on the title bar heading is not updated.

April 23, 2007

  • The 3-day extended forecast returns to the XL for the third time.

May 18, 2009

  • The Vocal Local narration is not enabled during the 1 minute version (E Flavor).

Flavors

A flavor is an arrangement of various types of products. Weather Bulletins displays immediately after the Current Conditions if active NWS bulletins exist.

Flavor Length (minutes and seconds) Products
DE (Original) 1:00 Current Conditions, Regional Conditions, Regional Forecast, Extended Forecast, Radar
DE (Modified) 1:00 Current Conditions, 36 Hour Forecast, The Week Ahead, Radar
K (Original) 1:30 Current Conditions, Latest Observations, 36 Hour Forecast, Extended Forecast, Radar
K (Modified) 1:30 Current Conditions, Latest Observations, Radar, Regional Forecast, 36 Hour Forecast, Extended Forecast
LM (Original) 2:00 Current Conditions, Latest Observations, Regional Conditions, 36 Hour Forecast, Regional Forecast, Extended Forecast, Almanac or Tides, Radar
L (Modified) 2:00 Current Conditions, Latest Observations, Radar, Daypart Forecast, Regional Forecast, 36 Hour Forecast, The Week Ahead
M (Modified) 2:00 Current Conditions, Latest Observations, Radar, Almanac or Tides, Daypart Forecast, Regional Forecast, 36 Hour Forecast, The Week Ahead

Cable headends utilizing the Weather Star XL

The following is a list of cable headends that are known to still use the Weather Star XL. [17]

Video provider and city Notes
Cox Communications
Siloam Springs, AR 		Replaced a 4000 in early 2005. Observation site: "NW Ark Reg. Arpt"
NPG Cable
Bullhead City, AZ
Charter Communications
Marchfield, CA 		Observation site: Big Bear Lake, CA
Time Warner Cable
Yucca Valley, CA
Comcast
Fort Myers, FL
Mediacom
Carroll, IA[18]
Project Mutual Telephone
Rupert, ID
Charter Communications
Effingham, IL[19]
Mediacom
Geneseo, IL
Mediacom
Mattoon, IL[20] 		Observation site: Mattoon, IL; STAR ID: 3465; Channel: 26
Mediacom
Peoria, IL 		Observation site: A rare combination of Central Illinois/Peoria, IL/Bloomington, IL.
Madison Communications
Staunton, IL
Insight Communications
Burlington, KY[21] 		Observation site: Cincinnati, OH
Time Warner Cable
Georgetown, KY 		Vocal Local not enabled
Comcast
Canton, MA 		Observation site: Taunton, MA
Comcast
Bad Axe, MI[22][23] 		Observation site: Bad Axe. STAR ID 2335, Channel 31. Replaced a STAR 4000 in 2006.
Charter Communications
Houghton Lake, MI[24] 		Observation site: Houghton Lake. Channel 49, STAR ID 1089
Charter Communications
Mackinaw City/St Ignace, MI 		Observation site: Mackinac Island. Channel 26, STAR ID 5779.
Charter Communications
Petoskey, MI[25] 		Observation site: Harbor Springs. Channel 26. When the XL received its first graphics update in 2001, this XL did not acquire the new maps included in the update
US Cable
Hannibal, MO[26] 		Observation site: Quincy, IL
Charter Communications
Rolla, MO
Charter Communications
Corolla, NC[27]
Consolidated Telecommunications
Dickinson, North Dakota 		Observation site: Dickinson, North Dakota (channel 21)
Cablevision (local)
Blair, NE
Provider unknown
Clovis-Cannon, NM[28]
Baja Broadband
Elko, NV
Provider unknown
Laughlin, NV
Time Warner Cable
Fulton, NY 		Channel 40
Grafton Cable
LaGrange, OH[29] 		Did not receive the 2005 graphics update. It is unclear if this is separate from the 4000 in LaGrange or if it is a replacement. (channel 17)
Time Warner Cable
Piketon, OH
Time Warner Cable
Zanesville, OH
Wave Broadband
Aurora, OR
Charter Communications
North Bend/Coos Bay, OR[30] 		Channel 48
Charter Communications
The Dalles, OR
Provider unknown
Bedford, PA
Comcast
DuBois/Punxsutawney, PA[31][32] 		Vocal Local not enabled; STAR ID 000457, channel 44
Time Warner Cable
Sharon, PA
Comcast
Sevierville, TN
Suddenlink
Andrews, TX
Grande Communications
Corinth, TX[33] 		STAR ID 14181, channel 51
Cox Communications
Mount Pleasant, TX
Insight Communications
Rockford, TX
Comcast
Provo, UT
Suddenlink
Narrows, VA[34] 		Observation site: Bluefield, WV
CAT-TV Cable
Bennington, VT[35] 		It is believed this cable headend used the Weather Star 4000 as recently as February 2006, however as of December 2008, now uses the XL. STAR ID 001945, channel 19.
Charter Communications
St. Johnsbury, VT 		STAR ID 005925
Comcast
Waterbury, VT
Coast Access
Ocean Shores, WA 		Observation site: Hoquiam, WA; channel 27
Oconto Falls Cable TV
Oconto Falls, WI
Suddenlink
Princeton, WV[36] 		Observation site Bluefield, WV; serves central northern Mercer County, WV and much of Summers County, WV
Rapid Communications
Weston, WV 		Vocal Local not enabled

See also

[37]

References

  1. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20030525085804/rhino.twc.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/star_xl/la164_rel_notes.pdf
  2. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20070110004659/support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/weatherscan_local/weatherscan_plus_install.pdf
  3. ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20050815154217/support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/star_xl/XL_install.pdf page 38
  4. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpFM9A4Ltb0
  5. ^ http://twcdan.com/videos/general/11.html
  6. ^ One Weatherscan only showed local radar products, but all reboots caused it to show a slide reading "Weather Star XL".
  7. ^ http://support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/star_xl/us165_rel_notes.pdf
  8. ^ http://twctoday.com/TWCClassics/2002%205-5%20558pm%20XLV2%20Chazz.wmv
  9. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLtLdsrZ5RI
  10. ^ http://support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/star_xl/us166_rel_notes.pdf
  11. ^ http://support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/star_xl/us167_rel_notes.pdf
  12. ^ http://support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/star_xl/us168_rel_notes.pdf
  13. ^ http://support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/star_xl/us172_rel_notes.pdf
  14. ^ http://support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/star_xl/us174_rel_notes.pdf
  15. ^ http://support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/star_xl/us175_rel_notes.pdf
  16. ^ http://support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/display/product/star_xl/us190_rel_notes.pdf
  17. ^ http://www.twcclassics.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=7552
  18. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B4FHkJXH8Zs
  19. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrJbIJ6DHJM
  20. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xXwfqFSGJCE
  21. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ScPqohPPh4
  22. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=My_vIhYO26M
  23. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n3il9aMUE8s
  24. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XRUIQzZuME
  25. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vLtLdsrZ5RI
  26. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Iut1bbG-ExM
  27. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iZqX9aVV728
  28. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQ7pGVWWEtU&feature=related
  29. ^ http://www.twcclassics.com/forums/topic/9789-surprise-discovery-in-lagrange-oh/page__pid__159501__st__0&#entry159501
  30. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuXaHh-HWSk&feature=email
  31. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iI6K6_OARQM
  32. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNK5YuH8df4
  33. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LWry54F6S8Y
  34. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHM1TwB0vII
  35. ^ http://www.taiganet.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=1595&pid=20827&mode=threaded&show=&st=&#entry20827
  36. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iHM1TwB0vII
  37. ^ http://support.weather.com/affiliates/tech_support/Index.cfm?fuseaction=Star_XL
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