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. (example, example 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.
In addition to displaying weather forecasts, some weather beacons have been used to signal victory or defeat for a professional sports home team.
Read more about Weather Beacon: History, Similar Devices
Famous quotes containing the words weather and/or beacon:
“What
One believes is what matters. Ecstatic identities
Between one’s self and the weather and the things
Of the weather are the belief in one’s element,
The casual reunions, the long-pondered
Surrenders, the repeated sayings that
There is nothing more and that it is enough....”
—Wallace Stevens (1879–1955)
“It was a remarkable kind of light to steer for,—daylight seen through a vista in the forest,—but visible as far as an ordinary beacon at night.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)