ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, January 14, 1996 TAG: 9601120024
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 10 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOHN M. MORAN\THE HARTFORD COURANT
A large and growing audience of people are getting their weather information from the Internet - and there's a staggering amount of information there for the taking.
Ask George Carmichael. As an amateur pilot, he needs to know if the conditions will be favorable for flying. As a weather-watcher, he likes to track the progress of storms and other weather systems.
These days, Carmichael is bypassing traditional weather sources, such as television and radio, in favor of logging onto the Internet. ``It's quite impressive what you can get now,'' said Carmichael, an engineering consultant based in Rindge, N.H. ``And it's all free.''
Temperature charts, precipitation maps, satellite photos, storm warnings and long-range forecasts are but a fraction of the weather data available through the global computer network.
Even weather experts are impressed by the amount and depth of weather information now available on-line.
``It is a weather-lover's paradise,'' said Mel Goldstein, director of the weather center at Western Connecticut State University in Danbury. ``What you can get now free on the Internet would have cost me $20,000 a year 20 years ago.''
The National Weather Service launched a site last October. It features up-to-the-minute forecasts as well as specialized information, such as interactive weather maps, marine forecasts and radar and satellite data.
``I think as time goes on, there's going to be a lot more of this offered,'' said David Henry, the meteorologist who runs the Web site. ``I think that this will become an important way of distributing forecasts for us.''
Private businesses also are creating weather sites on the World Wide Web.
Perhaps the largest is operated by a partnership between WSI Corp. and NBC News and its affiliated stations. It is international in scope.
Ron Matros, WSI vice president, said the firm's service aims at combining ease-of-use with comprehensive local weather data, including forecasts by local experts.
``Local meteorologists know the weather patterns of their area better than anyone else,'' Matros said.
Also jumping onto the Internet is cable television's Weather Channel, already a high-profile provider of weather information.
``The Internet and on-line services are going to be the next evolutionary step toward interactive TV,'' said Beth VanStory, the Weather Channel's vice president of enterprises.
Interest in the Weather Channel site has already been so high, she said, that the service had to upgrade its equipment. The service has been logging more than 1 million connections a week.
LENGTH: Medium: 56 linesby CNB