FutureWire - futurism and emerging technology

Monday, May 22, 2006

Hyper-Local Weather

Remember the old George Carlin bit in which he wondered why TV weather people quoted weather reports from the airport when, in fact, nobody lives at the airport?  For everyone who feels that weather forecasts are irrelevant comes "hyper-local" weather.

Accu-Weather, NBC Weather Plus and The Weather Channel are all perfecting technology that will allow them to deliver granular weather reports, specific to areas as close as a mile apart.  High Resolution Aggregated Data (HiRAD), when combined with radar and satellite imagery and delivered through the Web and digital cable, could effectively allow the viewer to see immediate and long-range forecasts for his or her own neighborhood or street.  This level of detail would be enormously helpful -- even a lifesaver -- in the case of powerful yet highly localized and fast-moving events such as tornadoes or thunderstorms.

Sources:  Broadcasting & Cable, Lost Remote

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