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From its beginning, weather.com has been the premier website for people to go to and receive updates on the weather in their area and around the world. Weather.com was created by The Weather Channel as a way for people to receive updates and information on the weather that isn’t through their television or radio. The site originally began in 1995 but was relaunched in 1998 with a new appearance and updates that made the site more interactive. As you can see below, the website from 1998 was very boring in its appearance and did not have all of the features we see on the website in 2013.
The website has grown very steadily in its brief history and this is due to people’s ability to get to it. As computers and technology innovated, the website would grow as well. Most people who use the site are normal citizens that are looking to see what current and future weather looks like. Weather.com is the best place to do so, there are many other companies who tell about weather, such as Apple, but is not a weather only business. This difference helps weather.com to be a place that most people would go for good, insightful information on the weather. Many industries such as Cruise Ships and Airlines use the website to help track the weather around them and where they are going. Also, it is used by these industries in order to see if it is safe to take off and if they will hit any severe weather on their way to the destination. Weather.com is a big help for these industries and also for the average person searching for updates on local weather.
Weather.com in 1998
As the website relaunched with an all new look and new features, it began to see a big increase in traffic. People began going to the website instead of just listening on the radio or watching on television. For the first time, people could receive up to the minute updates on weather going on in their area and around the world. As much as the site has changed, there are still many features that have not changed very much. Even in 1998, people could visit the website, put in their area or zip code and receive information instantaneously on the weather in that area. This feature is still one of the most used on the website today and has not changed drastically in most ways. The website also allowed you to look at a doppler radar so you could see and track weather coming from other areas or regions of the country. Also, the website included many articles you could read that would give in-depth information and up to the minute updates on weather and natural disasters going on around the country or world.
Weather.com in 2013
Although the website had many of the same features in 1998, it has gone through some major changes since that point. The website overall has a much better look and is more inviting to the consumer. Using bright colors and pictures above each article helps the reader navigate the website and gives it a much more modern look. The website now offers much more in-depth radars that can show you what past and future weather will be like. Even though the radar feature was available in 1998, it was not as easy to use and mostly only showed the whole country instead of the region you are in. Making this upgrade has helped the website gain traffic as people tend to trust the radar more than most weather reporters. Another upgrade that has been made is the ability to watch videos of weather broadcasts around the country. The site has a tab labeled ‘videos’ where you can go on and see videos on weather or natural disasters right after they air on the television.
The Weather Channel made a big step by relaunching the website in 1998 and has made many tremendous strides on the platform since then. The new look and style of the 2015 website better shows all the capabilities on the platform and also gives the user much more information on weather in the past, present and future.