ColorGraphics Weather Systems
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer graphics, Weather forecasting technology |
| Founded | 1979 |
| Founder | Terry Kelly, Richard Daly |
| Fate | Merged into Weather Central |
Key people | Terry Kelly, Richard Daly |
| Products | Computer-generated weather forecast systems (e.g., LiveLine, GENESIS) |
ColorGraphics Weather Systems was a company specializing in computer graphics that broke new ground by delivering computer-generated weather forecasts tailored for local television stations. Established in 1979 by Terry Kelly and Richard Daly, it eventually merged into Weather Central, another enterprise founded by Kelly.
History
Terry Kelly earned a meteorology degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison in 1971 and began his career as a weather presenter at Madison’s TV outlet WKOW. He pioneered early broadcast innovations including the use of magnetic icons to represent weather elements, color-coded graphic markers, and manually captured satellite cloud images to produce animations illustrating cloud movement.
Building on software development efforts with his team, Kelly launched Weather Central in 1974 to commercialize forecasting tools aimed at smaller clients such as ski resorts and transportation agencies. In 1979, he joined forces with Richard Daly—both alumni of the University of Wisconsin’s Space Science and Engineering department, known for creating the advanced McIDAS weather visualization system for the National Weather Service—to form ColorGraphics.
Their mission was to transform McIDAS technology into an affordable solution compatible with emerging home computers in the late 1970s. Their initial offering, "LiveLine," operated on the Apple II, but technical constraints meant its output had to be filmed directly from a television display. This was soon succeeded by a platform running on Cromemco hardware equipped with a customized Dazzler color-graphics card. Although the resolution was limited, its rapid production capabilities and contemporary aesthetic led to widespread acceptance.
By the mid-1980s, ColorGraphics’ technology had largely supplanted conventional bluescreen methods that relied on cardboard maps. By 1982, their systems were utilized by 70% of the top 50 U.S. TV markets; this figure rose to 80% of American television stations by 1984, where ColorGraphics solutions based on Cromemco microcomputers were employed for weather, news, and sports graphics.
In 1982, ColorGraphics was acquired by Dynatech Corporation. Following Dynatech’s acquisition of Cromemco in 1987, the two companies were consolidated; however, media-related assets were divested in the early 1990s. In 1994, Kelly and Daly regained ownership under Weather Central. The following year saw the introduction of the "GENESIS" platform operating on Silicon Graphics workstations, which later transitioned to systems from Hewlett-Packard.