Beacon that indicates the local weather forecast
"Weatherball" redirects here. For the antenna-protecting structure, see
Radome .
"Weather star" redirects here. For the computerized units used to generate local weather information over The Weather Channel, see
WeatherStar .
Weather beacon barometer atop theWestpac Place building inSydney Aweather beacon is abeacon that indicates the localweather forecast in acode of colored or flashing lights. Often, a short poem orjingle accompanies the code to make it easier to remember.[ 1] [ 2]
The beacon is usually on the roof of a tall building in a central business district, but some are attached totowers . The beacons are most commonly owned byfinancial services companies and television stations and are part of advertising andpublic relations programs. They provide a very basic forecast for the general public and not as an aid to navigation.[citation needed
In addition to displaying weather forecasts, some weather beacons have been used to signal victory or defeat for a professional sports home team.[citation needed
In 1898 on the orders of U.S. PresidentWilliam McKinley ,coastal warning display towers were installed along the coast of the United States. In 1936, theWeather Girl sculpturesCity Hall Square inCopenhagen . In 1938,Douglas Leigh designed aCoca-Cola billboard with a weather forecast display atColumbus Circle inNew York City .[ 3]
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 theEmpire 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 theattack on Pearl Harbor later that year.[ 4] Minneapolis in October 1949 with theNorthwestern National Bank Weatherball .[ 5]
In Australia, theMutual Life and Citizens insurance company installed weather beacons atop its buildings in 1957 and 1958.[ 6]
Weather beacons were most popular during the 1950s and 1960s.[citation needed
List of weather beacons [ edit ] New South Wales Queensland South Australia Victoria Western Australia Capilano Brewery, 1550 Burrard Street,Vancouver, British Columbia (1953 − ????)[ 21] White Rose weather beacon, 570 Portage Avenue,Winnipeg, Manitoba (25 June 1964 − ????) Kitchener City Hall ,Kitchener, Ontario Canada Life Building , Toronto, Ontario (9 August 1951 – present)Canada Life, 505Boulevard René-Lévesque Ouest,Montreal , Quebec (12 April 1956 – January 1976)[ 22] [ 23] [ 24] [ 25] [ 26] The Plains Hotel,Regina, Saskatchewan (???? − 2011)[ 27] [ 28] Arizona California ColoradoNational Farmers Union, 1575 Sherman Street,Denver (1956 − 1970; dismantled)[ 46] FloridaMercantile National Bank, 420 Lincoln Road,Miami Beach (23 February 1957 − ????; dismantled) American Federal Savings and Loan Association weather ball, Fidelity Storage building, 53 W. Jackson St.,Orlando (1963 – 1974; dismantled)[ 47] [ 48] First Federal Savings & Loan, Fourth Street and Central Avenue,St. Petersburg (1953 – 6 April 1970; dismantled) IllinoisWeather Bell, Bell Federal Savings (nowWalgreens ), 79 West Monroe Street,Chicago (???? − present)[ 49] [ 50] [ 51] Bell Federal Savings branch office, 180 N.Michigan Avenue , Chicago (???? − 1996; dismantled) WLS-TV Thermometer,Marina City , Chicago (1964 – 1978; dismantled)[ 52] WFRL weather beacon, State Bank Center, 50 West Douglas Street,Freeport (1974 − ????; dismantled) Iowa Kentucky Louisiana Massachusetts Michigan MinnesotaKCCO Weatherball, 8th Ave E & Hawthorne St., Alexandria (???? − March 2006)WEBC Weather Beacon, 331 W. Superior Street,Duluth [ 71] Northwestern National Bank Weatherball ,Minneapolis (7 October 1949 –25 November 1982 ; dismantled)[ 72] [ 73] [ 74] [ 75] [ 76] [ 77] Nicollet Island/East Bank branch office, 430 East Hennepin Avenue, Minneapolis (dismantled)Riverside branch office, 401 Cedar Avenue, Minneapolis (dismantled)Uptown branch office, 3006Hennepin Avenue , Minneapolis (dismantled)Hastings branch office, 111 E. 3rd Street, Hastings (dismantled)Mankato branch office, 206 E. Hickory Street, Mankato (dismantled)Montevideo branch office, 109 N. 1st Street, Montevideo (dismantled)Rochester branch office, 15 2nd Street, SW, Rochester (dismantled)[ 78] Saint Paul branch office, 360 Robert Street N, Saint Paul (dismantled)[ 79] Sauk Rapids branch office, 24 N. Benton Drive, Sauk Rapids (15 September 1961 − ????; dismantled)[ 80] WCCO-TV Weather Watcher,Nicollet Mall , Minneapolis (29 November 2013 − present) Missouri MontanaMidland Bank (now US Bank Tower), 303 N. Broadway,Billings (dismantled)[ 92] Union Bank (now Wells Fargo) Weatherball, 350 N. Last Chance Gulch,Helena (1959 − ????; dismantled)[ 93] NebraskaKMTV Weather Tower, N. 72nd Street,Omaha (non-functioning) New Mexico New York North Dakota Ohio Oklahoma Oregon PennsylvaniaWJAC-TV Weather BeaconJohnstown, Pennsylvania (1963 – present)[ 114] Handy Flame,Equitable Gas , 420 Boulevard of the Allies,Pittsburgh (12 March 1956 − 31 December 1972; dismantled) KDKA-TV Weather Beacon,Gulf Tower , Pittsburgh (1955 – present)(Updated in 2012)[ 115] WTAE-TV Weather Cone,Carnegie Science Center , Pittsburgh (2000 – present)[ 116] [ 117] Berks County Courthouse, 633 Court Street,Reading (???? − 1995)[ 118] [ 119] South DakotaKELO-TV weatherball, Sherman Hotel,Aberdeen (dismantled)[ 120] KDLO-TV weatherball, Marvin Hughitt Hotel, 375 Dakota S.,Huron (6 April 1960 − ????; dismantled)First National Bank,Pierre KELO weatherball, 100 North Phillips Avenue,Sioux Falls (dismantled) National Bank of South Dakota (nowUS Bank ), 141 N. Main Avenue, Sioux Falls (non-functioning)[ 121] [ 122] East Branch, East 10th & Omaha, Sioux Falls (dismantled) South Branch, 33rd & Minnesota, Sioux Falls (non-functioning)[ 123] [ 124] Sunset Branch, West 41st & Louise Avenue (dismantled) KDLO weatherball tower, 421 9th Av SE,Watertown (dismantled)[ 125] KXLG Weatherball, 835 Jensen Avenue, Watertown (22 May 2014 − present)[ 126] Tennessee TexasWNL Weather Tower, Western National Life Insurance, 205 SE 10th Avenue,Amarillo (dismantled) Mercantile Weather Tower,Mercantile National Bank Building ,Dallas (1958–1993; 12 February 2008 – present)[ 131] [ 132] [ 133] Blue Flame Building , 100 North Stanton Street,El Paso (26 March 1955 – ????; 27 July 2021 – present)[ 134] Texas National Bank/Conoco Weather Eye, Travis Tower, 1300 Main Street,Houston (17 October 1955 – 1964; removed September 1970)[ 135] [ 136] [ 137] [ 138] [ 139] [ 140] Alamo National Bank weather spire (nowDrury Plaza Hotel ), 105 S. St. Mary's Street,San Antonio (non-functioning)[ 141] [ 142] Utah Virginia WisconsinWeather Beacon,H. C. Prange Co. , 301 N. Washington Street,Green Bay (26 September 1952 − ????; dismantled)[ 147] Weather Flame,Wisconsin Gas Building , 626 East Wisconsin Avenue,Milwaukee (1956 – 1973, 1985 − present)[ 148] [ 149] Oshkosh National Bank, 300 N. Main Street,Oshkosh (9 May 1952 − ????; dismantled) Weather 9,WAOW , 1908 Grand Avenue,Wausau (1965 − present)[ 150] ^ "Museum" .^ "WKRC Weather Beacon 1987.WMV" .YouTube ^ Gray, Christopher (24 October 1998)."Streetscapes / Douglas Leigh, Sign Maker; the Man Behind Times Square's Smoke Rings" .The New York Times . ^ "Manhattan Users Guide" . Archived fromthe original on 11 October 2007. 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