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"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 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.[1][2]

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.[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]

History

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Precursors

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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.[3]

Weather beacons

[edit]

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.[4] Leigh resurrected his idea in Minneapolis in October 1949 with the Northwestern National Bank Weatherball.[5]

In Australia, the Mutual 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]

Similar devices

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List of weather beacons

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Australia

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Austria

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Belgium

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Canada

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Denmark

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Finland

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Germany

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Japan

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Norway

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Sweden

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Turkey

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United Kingdom

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United States

[edit]
[edit]
  • 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
  • Tampere
    Tampere
  • Aachen
    Aachen
  • Osaka
    Osaka
  • Osaka
    Osaka
  • Oslo
    Oslo
  • 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

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[edit]
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