AccuWeather

AccuWeather, Inc.
Company type	Private
Industry	Weather forecasting, Media
Founded	1962; 64 years ago
Founder	Joel N. Myers
Headquarters	Ferguson Township, Pennsylvania, United States
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Steven R. Smith (CEO), Joel N. Myers (Executive Chairman)
Products	Weather forecasts, alerts, data services, The AccuWeather Network, mobile app, Local AccuWeather Network
Number of employees	400 (2024)
Website	www.accuweather.com

AccuWeather, Inc. is a privately held American media enterprise that focuses on providing commercial weather forecasting solutions. Established in 1962 by Joel N. Myers, the firm adopted the 'AccuWeather' brand name in 1971.

The company's main office is situated in Ferguson Township, close to State College. Additional offices are located in Manhattan’s Financial District, Wichita, and Oklahoma City. On an international scale, AccuWeather maintains facilities in Tokyo, Beijing, Seoul, and Mumbai.

AccuWeather’s operational strategy involves utilizing federal meteorological data and satellite imagery, transforming this information into accessible formats tailored for business customers. The company has actively pursued lobbying efforts aimed at privatizing the National Weather Service to convert public weather offerings into subscription-based services, thereby enhancing its revenue potential through exclusive data rights.

Company profile

AccuWeather specializes in delivering weather forecasts, alerts, data services, and related information. It is widely recognized for its digital platforms including a website, mobile application, and The AccuWeather Network television channel. The company provides free ad-supported content alongside a multi-tier subscription system that grants access to advanced features.

As of 2024, the organization employs roughly 400 staff members, among them more than 100 operational meteorologists. Its continuously operating weather channel broadcasts from its headquarters near State College, Pennsylvania.

Leadership

In June 2023, Steven R. Smith assumed the role of CEO, succeeding founder Dr. Joel N. Myers who moved into the position of executive chairman. Members of the Myers family have played significant roles within the company: Evan Myers held the position of Chief Operating Officer until 2020 and served as Senior Vice President, while Barry Lee Myers was CEO from 2007 through 2019.

Products and services

AccuWeather provides weather-related content to Bloomberg Television and United Stations Radio Networks. Broadcast meteorologist Jim Kosek became notable for his dynamic presentation style during significant weather incidents. The current Chief Meteorologist is Jonathan Porter; Elliot Abrams retired in 2019 after more than five decades with the company.

The firm produces daily localized weather videos distributed via its website, Local AccuWeather Network, online platforms, and mobile applications. Its app offers minute-by-minute forecasting along with crowd-sourced weather updates. AccuWeather also participates actively in telecommunications convergence and digital signage industries.

In 2015, AccuWeather entered a joint venture with China’s Huafeng Media Group, obtaining exclusive forecast rights from the China Meteorological Administration.

Besides consumer-oriented forecasts, AccuWeather delivers predictive analytics services designed specifically for business clients.

The Local AccuWeather Channel

Launched in 2005 as a digital subchannel for television broadcasters, The Local AccuWeather Channel was discontinued by 2021. Nevertheless, AccuWeather continues to supply local weather programming to the noncommercial Milwaukee PBS outlet WMVT-DT3 under a distinct agreement.

National weather channel

In 2015, Verizon FiOS replaced The Weather Channel with a new continuous weather service titled "The AccuWeather Channel". This change came after discussions involving AccuWeather, The Weather Channel, and DirecTV. Operating independently from local subchannels, the AccuWeather Network became the third nonstop weather channel in the United States, joining The Weather Channel and WeatherNation TV. It is accessible through providers such as Spectrum TV, DIRECTV, Frontier, Philo, and FuboTV. On August 1, 2018, it expanded its reach nationwide via DIRECTV.

AccuWeather Now

In July 2021, AccuWeather introduced AccuWeather Now, a streaming service delivered over-the-top that centers on viral clips and social media-driven content.

RealFeel temperature

AccuWeather created the proprietary "RealFeel Temperature," a patented apparent temperature index that incorporates factors like temperature, wind speed, humidity levels, sunlight intensity, cloud cover, precipitation, and altitude. This measurement aims to improve forecast reliability by representing how weather conditions are perceived by humans. The exact formula remains confidential and has not undergone independent validation. In response, competitors such as The Weather Channel have developed comparable indices like "FeelsLike."

Plume Labs

In 2022, AccuWeather acquired Plume Labs, a startup focused on air pollution monitoring. Established in 2014, Plume Labs specialized in visualizing and forecasting air quality using data sourced from government monitoring stations as well as individual contributors. It provided street-level Air Quality Index (AQI) forecasts and marketed Flow, a compact personal air quality device. Due to strong sales figures, more Flow units reported AQI data than official government stations; however, government-sourced data maintained superior accuracy.

Following the acquisition, AccuWeather halted all sales of Flow devices in spring 2023.

Long-term forecasting practices

Starting in 2012, AccuWeather curtailed its publicly accessible historical weather records from 15 years down to just one year while simultaneously extending forecast horizons from 15 days to as far as 90 days by 2016. These longer-range forecasts have faced ongoing criticism for being misleading and less precise than the National Weather Service’s 30-year average accuracy. Due to inherent observational limitations and atmospheric unpredictability, dependable forecasting typically extends only one to two weeks.

A 2013 evaluation by Jason Samenow of The Washington Post revealed that AccuWeather’s 25-day predictions frequently deviated significantly from actual weather outcomes and missed nearly half of rainfall events during the study period. AccuWeather maintains that these extended forecasts are designed merely to suggest general tendencies; however, their presentation often implies greater precision. Additional analyses confirmed that forecasts beyond one week offer limited reliability compared to climatological norms, reducing their usefulness for detailed planning.

National Weather Service

The National Weather Service (NWS) supplies much of the foundational data that AccuWeather repackages for commercial use while also making this information freely available in the public domain. AccuWeather highlights that NOAA data represents only one of approximately 190 inputs into its proprietary Forecast Engine (SWIFT), which integrates artificial intelligence, over 250 patents, and insights from more than 100 meteorologists accumulated over six decades to produce its forecasts.

In 2005, Senator Rick Santorum proposed the "National Weather Service Duties Act of 2005", legislation aimed at restricting NWS from directly disseminating weather information to the public—a move widely interpreted as benefiting AccuWeather’s commercial model reliant on monetizing publicly funded data. AccuWeather denies any intention to curtail public access. The bill ultimately did not progress. Notably, Santorum received campaign donations from Joel Myers, president of AccuWeather.

On October 12, 2017, AccuWeather CEO Barry Lee Myers, brother of the company’s founder, was nominated by President Donald Trump to head the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), which oversees NWS. Unlike most prior NOAA leaders, Myers lacked an advanced scientific degree but held qualifications in business and law and had managed AccuWeather profitably for twelve years. He resigned as CEO on January 1, 2019, divesting ownership stakes in compliance with ethics rules. After an extended confirmation process, Myers withdrew his nomination in November 2019 citing health concerns.

During this timeframe, accusations of sexual harassment were made against Myers; AccuWeather denied these allegations. Myers responded publicly with a letter to The Washington Post in 2019 addressing the claims.

iOS location privacy

In August 2017, security expert Will Strafach identified that the AccuWeather iPhone application was unintentionally transmitting location information to Reveal Mobile through a defective SDK, even when users had not granted permission. This issue was independently verified by ZDnet. AccuWeather responded by acknowledging their lack of awareness regarding the tracking, confirming they did not utilize the data, and swiftly released an updated version of the app that eliminated the Reveal Mobile SDK.

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