• After witnessing the continued decrease of involvement in the SpotterNetwork staff in serving SN members with troubleshooting issues recently, I have unilaterally decided to terminate the relationship between SpotterNetwork's support and Stormtrack. I have witnessed multiple users unable to receive support weeks after initiating help threads on the forum. I find this lack of response from SpotterNetwork officials disappointing and a failure to hold up their end of the agreement that was made years ago, before I took over management of this site. In my opinion, having Stormtrack users sit and wait for so long to receive help on SpotterNetwork issues on the Stormtrack forums reflects poorly not only on SpotterNetwork, but on Stormtrack and (by association) me as well. Since the issue has not been satisfactorily addressed, I no longer wish for the Stormtrack forum to be associated with SpotterNetwork.

    I apologize to those who continue to have issues with the service and continue to see their issues left unaddressed. Please understand that the connection between ST and SN was put in place long before I had any say over it. But now that I am the "captain of this ship," it is within my right (nay, duty) to make adjustments as I see necessary. Ending this relationship is such an adjustment.

    For those who continue to need help, I recommend navigating a web browswer to SpotterNetwork's About page, and seeking the individuals listed on that page for all further inquiries about SpotterNetwork.

    From this moment forward, the SpotterNetwork sub-forum has been hidden/deleted and there will be no assurance that any SpotterNetwork issues brought up in any of Stormtrack's other sub-forums will be addressed. Do not rely on Stormtrack for help with SpotterNetwork issues.

    Sincerely, Jeff D.

AccuWeather Launches AccUcast, Providing Crowdsourced Weather Feature

Steve Miller

Owner Emeritus
Staff member
Supporter
Joined
Jun 14, 2004
Messages
1,793
Location
Moore, OK
AccuWeather Global Weather Center -- July 21, 2015 -- AccuWeather, Inc., the global leader in weather information and digital media, today introduced AccUcast(tm), an exciting interactive crowdsourcing feature available in the AccuWeather universal iOS app where users can now share their local weather updates. AccUcast is the only crowdsourcing tool with live crowdsourced weather maps that provide current weather conditions submitted by users in a global animation display. AccuWeather designed and developed AccUcast to help people worldwide make more informed decisions, providing a new level of localization and user interactivity in weather forecasting.

"Our mission is to personalize the weather by making it more localized and more interactive for all of our users," said Steven Smith, AccuWeather President - Digital Media. "AccUcast's crowdsourcing capability gives app users an innovative and easy way to share their weather observations and to see what other followers are experiencing nearby. By combining AccuWeather's Superior Accuracy(tm) with real-world observations from our users, we are empowering people worldwide to participate in weather forecasting to make the best decisions that improve and protect their lives."

AccUcast is available for global locations through the AccuWeather universal iOS app. Users can submit their local weather and hazard condition observations through the app's landing screen, map screen, settings menu, and AccuWeather MinuteCast(r) screen. Weather conditions include clear, partly cloudy, cloudy, rain, snow, ice, or hail, and hazard conditions include damaging winds, slippery roads, flooding, and reduced visibility. After the user's weather report is submitted, it is visible on the map screen as a pin resembling a person, which distinguishes it from the other user-submitted weather observations on the map.

In the zoomed-out view of the crowdsourced weather map screen, users will see smaller color-coded condition points which can be animated globally. This is unique to AccUcast and allows users to see both national and international weather patterns. When viewers zoom in, they will see crowdsourced weather observations as pins that can be tapped to reveal additional details including the condition, location, and time since submission. Each color-coded pin displays the reported condition with a weather-specific icon for easy scanning of weather patterns in a localized area.

AccUcast joins a suite of innovative features within the AccuWeather app, including MinuteCast. Available for more global locations than any other minute-by-minute forecast, MinuteCast provides the only global minute-by-minute precipitation forecast for a given area over the next two hours. This unique and patented forecast provides hyper-localized data specific to a user's exact street address or GPS location and includes precipitation type and intensity, as well as start and end times. It is available for a growing list of international locations, including the contiguous United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Japan, France, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, Netherlands, Luxembourg, Spain, Sweden, and Denmark.

The AccuWeather App is available on the App Store for Apple Watch, iPhone, iPad and iPod touch at App store.
 
mPING for some reason only includes a limited subset of weather conditions... This looks more inclusive.
 
I hope the keepers of Stormtrack are getting some kickback from this copypasta press release.

--Leigh Orf, the global leader in weather information and digital media.... in my pants.
 
I hope the keepers of Stormtrack are getting some kickback from this copypasta press release.

--Leigh Orf, the global leader in weather information and digital media.... in my pants.

I operate this forum and originally posted this. I also work for a competitor of AccuWeather, yet still posted the news because it's "weather news".
If you have further opinion about what is posted on this forum, please report a post or contact a staff member directly. What you have produced here is a passive aggressive waste of space.
 
I'm surprised it took a public weather company this long to develop a crowdsourced feature for weather reports. With AccuWeather's audience and advertising budget their new product could indeed be somewhat interesting. However with so many options for users when it comes to weather information I have to wonder if this feature is a few years too late.
 
Back
Top