Weather Star XL - Products

Products

A product displays certain types of weather data. Some products were added on later in the life of the Star XL.

• Current Conditions - The current temperature, weather conditions, wind speed and gusts (if any), barometric pressure, dew point, humidity, ceiling, visibility, and (if applicable) the wind chill/heat index.
• Weather Bulletins (added April 2002) - Shows any watches, warnings, or advisories from the National Weather Service in effect for your area. If there are none, this product doesn't display. Before 2002, these were displayed at the front of the 36-Hour Forecast, but was moved by TWC because of text running over with the NOAA logo.
• Latest Observations (branded Current Conditions) - The current temperature, weather conditions, and wind speed in 7 nearby cities/locations and the primary observation site.
• Regional Conditions (branded Current Conditions) - The current temperature and weather conditions for 7-10 cities in the region. Discontinued July 2002.
• Radar - Shows any precipitation in the area and its movement over the course of 3 hours, up from 90 minutes on the Weather Star 4000.
• Almanac - Shows the local sunrise and sunset times for the day and the next day, as well as moon phase data. Calculated on the Weather Star, and thus unique in that the data never expires.
• Tides (in coastal areas) - Replaces the Almanac in coastal areas. Shows the day's low and high tide times for two locations in the area, as well as the local sunrise and sunset times.
• Marine Forecast (select coastal areas) - Similar to the version used on the 4000. Shows the forecast winds (in knots), wave heights, and any marine warnings for area waters for the day. Data was provided by TWC meteorologists along the coasts. Discontinued 2002.
• Air Quality Forecast (southern California only) - Similar to the version used on the 4000. On the left of the screen, three locations are given. On the right, there is a bar graph with four color-coded and labeled background sections (yellow: Good, light orange: Mod. Risk, dark orange: Unhealthy, red: Very Unhealthy). The overall Air Quality Index (formerly Pollutant Standard Index) value is given as a number inside or to the right of each bar.
• Daypart Forecast (added March 2002) - The Forecast temperature, weather conditions, and winds at four points either for that night or the next day.
• Regional Forecast - The forecast temperature and weather conditions for 7-10 cities in the region.
• Metro Forecast (added July 2002; select urban areas) - The forecast temperature and weather conditions for the main city and 7-9 nearby suburbs/locations. Replaces the Regional Forecast.
• Local Forecast/36-Hour Forecast - The forecast for the next 24–36 hours in your area. Provided by the National Weather Service until April 2002; the replacement of the NWS product was justified as an alignment with TWC forecast products and as being designed for an area and not a county.
• Extended Forecast - The forecast for the next three days, starting the day after the next (if shown on a Monday, the forecast will be for Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday).
• The Week Ahead (added March 2002) - The forecast for the next 7 days (including the current day) from Sunday through Saturday.

The STAR also displays these items:

• Advertising tags with localized addresses for retailers.
• Tagging products, such as a pollen levels report.
• A lower display line with current conditions and forecast information. The LDL, as it is abbreviated, was redesigned in 2003 and received a specific version with more information for non-weather programs like Storm Stories.
• NWS bulletin crawls. There are four types of crawls: red (Severe Thunderstorm Warnings, Tornado Warnings, generic Weather Bulletins), orange (Urban & Small Stream Flood Advisory, Hurricane Local Statement), yellow (Severe Thunderstorm Watches and Tornado Watches), and gray (a color used for testing, using the following text: "The Weather Channel and the National Weather Service are conducting a test of the display of Severe Weather Watch information. This is only a test."). Gray crawls are not output to viewers.

Other Weather Stars can display these items (but NWS bulletins sometimes scroll full-screen).

Products displayed on TWC Latin America included the following (Spanish titles, though Portuguese versions were available):

• Condiciones actuales (Current Conditions) (also included a regional version)
• A Latest Observations product, also branded "Condiciones actuales"
• Pronóstico para ____ (Forecast for ____) (comes in both local (24-36 hour) and regional versions)
• Satélite (Satellite)
• Pronóstico extendido (Extended Forecast) (3 days)
• Mareas (Tides)
• Pronóstico Marino (Marine Forecast) (winds, wave height, and water temperature)
• Almanaques (Almanacs) (solar and lunar)