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[[File:Westpac weather beacon.jpg|thumb|Weather beacon barometer atop the [[Westpac Place]] building in [[Sydney]]]]
[[File:Westpac weather beacon.jpg|thumb|Weather beacon barometer atop the [[Westpac Place]] building in [[Sydney]]]]
A '''weather beacon''' is a [[beacon]] that indicates the local [[weather forecast]] in a [[code]] of colored or flashing lights. Often, a short poem or [[jingle]] accompanies the code to make it easier to remember.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mnhs.org/exhibits/weather/web_assets/Jingle.mov|title = Museum}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=344vwknMlFA|title = WKRC Weather Beacon 1987.WMV|website = [[YouTube]]}}</ref>
A '''weather beacon''' is a [[beacon]] that indicates the local [[weather forecast]] in a [[code]] of colored or flashing lights.


The beacon is usually on the roof of a tall building in a central business district, but some are attached to [[tower]]s. The beacons are most commonly owned by [[financial services]] companies and television stations and are part of advertising and [[public relations]] programs. They provide a very basic forecast for the general public and not as an aid to navigation.
The beacon is usually on the roof of a tall building in a central business district, but some are attached to [[tower]]s. The beacons are most commonly owned by [[financial services]] companies and television stations and are part of advertising and [[public relations]] programs. They provide a very basic forecast for the general public and not as an aid to navigation.

Revision as of 13:23, 18 October 2022

"Weatherball" redirects here. For the antenna-protecting structure, see Radome.

Weather beacon barometer atop the Westpac Place building in Sydney

A weather beacon is a beacon that indicates the local weather forecast in a code of colored or flashing lights.

The beacon is usually on the roof of a tall building in a central business district, but some are attached to towers. The beacons are most commonly owned by financial services companies and television stations and are part of advertising and public relations programs. They provide a very basic forecast for the general public and not as an aid to navigation.

In addition to displaying weather forecasts, some weather beacons have been used to signal victory or defeat for a professional sports home team.

History

Precursors

In 1898 on the orders of U.S. President William McKinley, coastal warning display towers were installed along the coast of the United States. In 1936, the Weather Girl sculptures were installed in City Hall Square in Copenhagen. In 1938, Douglas Leigh designed a Coca-Cola billboard with a weather forecast display at Columbus Circle in New York City.[1]

Weather beacons

The first attempt to create a weather beacon as a form of advertising was from Douglas Leigh, who, in 1941, arranged a lighting scheme for the Empire State Building to display a weather forecast code with a decoder to be packaged with Coca-Cola bottles. The plan was never implemented because of the attack on Pearl Harbor later that year.[2] Leigh resurrected his idea in Minneapolis in October 1949 with the Northwestern National Bank Weatherball.[3]

In Australia, the Mutual Life and Citizens insurance company installed weather beacons atop its buildings in 1957 and 1958.[4]

Weather beacons were most popular during the 1950s and 1960s.

Similar devices

List of weather beacons

Australia

Austria

Belgium

Canada

China

Denmark

Finland

Germany

Japan

Russia

Sweden

Turkey

United Kingdom

United States

Gallery

  • Hurstville
    Hurstville
  • North Sydney
    North Sydney
  • Brisbane
    Brisbane
  • Brisbane
    Brisbane
  • Adelaide
    Adelaide
  • Abbotsford
    Abbotsford
  • Melbourne
    Melbourne
  • Melbourne
    Melbourne
  • Perth
    Perth
  • Vienna
    Vienna
  • Brussels
    Brussels
  • Vancouver
    Vancouver
  • Kitchener
    Kitchener
  • Toronto
    Toronto
  • Montreal
    Montreal
  • Regina
    Regina
  • Copenhagen
    Copenhagen
  • Copenhagen
    Copenhagen
  • Tampere
    Tampere
  • Aachen
    Aachen
  • Osaka
    Osaka
  • Osaka
    Osaka
  • Stockholm
    Stockholm
  • Istanbul
    Istanbul
  • Coventry
    Coventry
  • Coventry
    Coventry
  • Glasgow
    Glasgow
  • London
    London
  • Phoenix
    Phoenix
  • Fresno
    Fresno
  • Sacramento
    Sacramento
  • San Francisco
    San Francisco
  • Denver
    Denver
  • Miami Beach
    Miami Beach
  • Orlando
    Orlando
  • St. Petersburg
    St. Petersburg
  • Chicago
    Chicago
  • Chicago
    Chicago
  • Chicago
    Chicago
  • Des Moines
    Des Moines
  • Dubuque
    Dubuque
  • Sioux City
    Sioux City
  • Covington
    Covington
  • Lexington
    Lexington
  • New Orleans
    New Orleans
  • Boston
    Boston
  • Flint
    Flint
  • Grand Rapids
    Grand Rapids
  • Grand Rapids
    Grand Rapids
  • Duluth
    Duluth
  • Minneapolis
    Minneapolis
  • Nicollet Island/East Bank
    Nicollet Island/East Bank
  • Riverside
    Riverside
  • Uptown
    Uptown
  • Montevideo
    Montevideo
  • Rochester
    Rochester
  • Saint Paul
    Saint Paul
  • Minneapolis
    Minneapolis
  • Kansas City
    Kansas City
  • Kansas City
    Kansas City
  • St. Louis
    St. Louis
  • Wellston
    Wellston
  • Billings
    Billings
  • Helena
    Helena
  • Omaha
    Omaha
  • New York City
    New York City
  • Syracuse
    Syracuse
  • Bismarck
    Bismarck
  • Cincinnati
    Cincinnati
  • Cleveland
    Cleveland
  • Oklahoma City
    Oklahoma City
  • Tulsa
    Tulsa
  • Portland
    Portland
  • Johnstown
    Johnstown
  • Pittsburgh
    Pittsburgh
  • Pittsburgh
    Pittsburgh
  • Pittsburgh
    Pittsburgh
  • Reading
    Reading
  • Sioux Falls
    Sioux Falls
  • Sioux Falls
    Sioux Falls
  • Sioux Falls
    Sioux Falls
  • Watertown
    Watertown
  • Watertown
    Watertown
  • Chattanooga
    Chattanooga
  • Nashville
    Nashville
  • Amarillo
    Amarillo
  • Dallas
    Dallas
  • El Paso
    El Paso
  • Houston
    Houston
  • San Antonio
    San Antonio
  • Salt Lake City
    Salt Lake City
  • Salt Lake City
    Salt Lake City
  • Salt Lake City
    Salt Lake City
  • Newport News
    Newport News
  • Green Bay
    Green Bay
  • Milwaukee
    Milwaukee
  • Oshkosh
    Oshkosh
  • Wausau
    Wausau

Notes

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  2. ^ "Manhattan Users Guide". Archived from the original on 11 October 2007. Retrieved 4 February 2008.
  3. ^ "Remembering a beloved icon", Northwestern Financial Review
  4. ^ a b c Federation and Meteorology, Memories of the Bureau, 1946 to 1962, page 1032
  5. ^ "Harbinger, 2007". adriangollner.ca. Retrieved 4 August 2016.
  6. ^ MLC Building, North Sydney
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  8. ^ Hitachi Building, Brisbane
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  10. ^ Weather beacon to be given the flick – Queensland – BrisbaneTimes
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  12. ^ "Brisbane Weather Beacon being Switched off". YouTube.
  13. ^ "Hitachi building weather beacon in Brisbane". YouTube.
  14. ^ MLC Building, Adelaide
  15. ^ Lloyd, Tim (30 March 2007). "City beacon stands tall". The Advertiser.
  16. ^ 303 Collins Street, Melbourne
  17. ^ "Docklands tower light show reflects weather forecast". 20 July 2016.
  18. ^ "Who's afraid of Red, Green and Blue" – an urban installation by LAb[au] on Brussels Dexia Tower
  19. ^ "Illustrated Vancouver Circa 1953 – the Capilano Weather Beacon |". 15 October 2011.
  20. ^ ProposMontreal: Le Phare Météo de Montréal
  21. ^ 505 Boulevard René-Lévesque Ouest, Montreal[dead link]
  22. ^ 2,640 Colored Bulbs Will Predict Weather, The Gazette, 13 April 1956, p. 23
  23. ^ Montreal this morning, The Gazette, 14 Jan. 1976, p. 3
  24. ^ Correction, The Gazette, 17 Jan. 1976, p. 4 (beacon to be demolished, not building)
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  30. ^ "Культура".
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  32. ^ Beyazit Tower
  33. ^ icCoventry – Put that light out!
  34. ^ Coventry Design Awards 2001 – Three Towers Lighting Project : Hillman House, Corporation Street
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  47. ^ Bell Savings Building, Chicago
  48. ^ Weather Bell sur Flickr : partage de photos !
  49. ^ Weather Bell Archived 5 December 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  50. ^ Memories Of Marina City
  51. ^ Warmer Weather Ahead sur Flickr : partage de photos !
  52. ^ Colder Weather in Sight sur Flickr : partage de photos !
  53. ^ https://www.americantrust.bank/resources/informational-resources/weather-tower.html
  54. ^ "Weather tower on top of American Trust and Savings Bank | Dubuque iowa, Dubuque, Tower".
  55. ^ "Channel 9 KCAU-TV Weather Ball". Archived from the original on 28 September 2007. Retrieved 18 November 2006.
  56. ^ "What Do The Weather Lights Mean?". WLWT. Hearst Television. 17 April 2009. Archived from the original on 10 March 2012. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
  57. ^ https://www.21cmuseumhotels.com/museum/exhibit/tomorrow/
  58. ^ "Tomorrow's Weather Lexington, 2016 | Bigert & Bergström". Archived from the original on 23 March 2018. Retrieved 22 March 2018.
  59. ^ 1952 The Falstaff Weather Ball is First Lit
  60. ^ "Falstaff's forecasts on the ball - by BUDDY STALL". Archived from the original on 10 March 2005. Retrieved 14 December 2006.
  61. ^ Falstaff Brewery – New Orleans Louisiana sur Flickr : partage de photos !
  62. ^ New Orleans, Louisiana Daily Photo
  63. ^ Tower shines after 50 years: 10/1/00
  64. ^ "Flint skyline sees changes to historical weather ball".
  65. ^ http://www.wzzm13.com/weather/weatherball.asp
  66. ^ Grand Rapids Business Journal – Weather Ball History Archived 31 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine
  67. ^ weather ball sur Flickr : partage de photos !
  68. ^ Valley City Sign Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  69. ^ The Technical History of WEBC Radio: Chapter Five Archived 20 May 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  70. ^ New Header [permanent dead link]
  71. ^ Guided by History: Weatherball Archived 16 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  72. ^ MNHS.ORG | Exhibits | Weather Permitting
  73. ^ History of the NWS in the Twin Cities – At the Airport
  74. ^ A History of Minneapolis: Banking and Finance Archived 16 June 2002 at the Wayback Machine
  75. ^ "Remembering a beloved icon". Northwestern Financial Review. 2001. Archived from the original on 5 March 2010.
  76. ^ Calavano, Alan (2008). Rochester. ISBN 9780738551944.
  77. ^ MHS Visual Resource Database Image
  78. ^ "Architect used Prairie Style on Central Minnesota banks".
  79. ^ "Business Men's Assurance Co. Building | KC HISTORY". Archived from the original on 6 March 2018. Retrieved 6 March 2018.
  80. ^ http://www.hoachorus.com/harmonotes/Dec05Harmonotes.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  81. ^ Pershing Building, Kansas City[dead link]
  82. ^ "Built St. Louis | Central Corridor | Downtown West | Locust Street". www.builtstlouis.net. Retrieved 26 August 2019.
  83. ^ "Terra Cotta Lofts". www.terracottalofts.com. Archived from the original on 19 September 2003. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  84. ^ Blacktie-StLouis | PREMIERE EVENTS | The 8-foot, 1200-pound neon ball sits on top of a 50-foot rotating tower and can be seen over a 10-mile radius when lit Archived 30 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  85. ^ Terra Cotta Lofts, St. Louis
  86. ^ Weather Ball 2 sur Flickr : partage de photos !
  87. ^ Weather Ball sur Flickr : partage de photos !
  88. ^ "Historic Bank Sign That Served as Weather Beacon Saved from Scrapyard".
  89. ^ "State Bank of Wellston | National Building Arts Center".
  90. ^ US Bank Tower, Billings
  91. ^ Helena Last Chance Gulch
  92. ^ Dunlap, David W. (4 February 2008). "No More MONY in the Midtown Skyline". The New York Times.
  93. ^ Gothamist: Find Another Weather Forecast Archived 11 October 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  94. ^ Mutual of New York Building, New York City
  95. ^ Burleigh County : General Information Archived 10 December 2005 at the Wayback Machine
  96. ^ Bismarck-Mandan Blog – Weather Beacon: been there, done that, got the t-shirt Archived 29 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  97. ^ Save the Weather Beacon! You can help!
  98. ^ Chiquita Center, Cincinnati
  99. ^ Lisa Miller (producer) (1987). WKRC-TV Gets Weather Beacon (Television advertisement). Cincinnati, Ohio: WKRC-TV. ♪ If you wanna know / what the weather will be / just look up to the top / of the Chiquita Building. ♪
  100. ^ https://www.facebook.com/WKYC.Channel3.Weather/videos/10152917855826977/ [user-generated source]
  101. ^ Griffith, Terry L. (2000). Oklahoma City: 1930 to the Millennium. ISBN 9780738508801.
  102. ^ "Downtown Tulsa Building Used to Predict the Weather".
  103. ^ "Throwback Tulsa: Weather Teller beamed color-coded forecast over downtown".
  104. ^ Tulsa TV Weather
  105. ^ Tulsa Historical Society | Learn | Exhibits | Historic Sites Archived 27 March 2003 at archive.today
  106. ^ 320 S. Boston 3 sur Flickr : partage de photos !
  107. ^ "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 June 2007. Retrieved 9 April 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  108. ^ Standard Insurance Plaza, Portland
  109. ^ "Sign in to OregonLive.com". The Oregonian.
  110. ^ Downtown Portland from our window by Gallun : Weather Underground Archived 18 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine
  111. ^ officeflowers sur Flickr : partage de photos !
  112. ^ @CrispinHavener (27 November 2021). "Since we have ❄️ tonight, thought I'd post pictures about something I get asked a lot about: the weather beacon ato…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  113. ^ Gulf Building, Pittsburgh
  114. ^ http://www.cparchives.com/archive.cfm?type=You%20Had%20to%20Ask&action=getComplete&ref=2497 [permanent dead link]
  115. ^ "Carnegie Science Center: WTAE Weather Watch". Archived from the original on 20 April 2007. Retrieved 6 April 2007.
  116. ^ New twist on an old landmark – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review [permanent dead link]
  117. ^ "You Ask Youker: Did the Berks County Courthouse lights offer a weather forecast?". Archived from the original on 21 February 2009. Retrieved 24 February 2009.
  118. ^ http://www.co.berks.pa.us/commissioners/cwp/view.asp?A=11&Q=490871
  119. ^ "'Weather ball' once perched on hotel". Archived from the original on 27 September 2007. Retrieved 17 June 2007.
  120. ^ US Bank Building, Sioux Falls
  121. ^ "Greetings from Sioux Falls Presents: The Weatherballs". Archived from the original on 13 November 2017. Retrieved 27 February 2018.
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  126. ^ 28 January 2007 – Provident: a Beacon in the Chattanooga Community – Memories – Chattanoogan.com Archived 22 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine
  127. ^ Maclellan Building, Chattanooga
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  129. ^ "Life and Casualty Tower".
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Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Weather_beacon&oldid=1116814301"