Giving users access to fixed and mobile radar outputs helps keep them safe in dangerous weather.
Responding to the growing incidence of severe weather events and their threat to public safety NBC and Telemundo Owned Stations are giving viewers access to the broadcast group’s cutting-edge weather technology via digital platforms 24/7.
Most notably, there are a mix of radars, which are live around-the-clock on both the NBC and Telemundo stations’ digital outlets, including their websites and apps. Those radars are able to detect and report weather several minutes faster than the National Weather Service radars can.
Part of a major investment in improving weather offerings to English and Spanish-speakers, the broadcast group has seven fixed weather radars across the country in areas not well covered by the National Weather Service equipment. NBC and Telemundo stations also operate six StormRangers (that’s CazaTormentas in Spanish), which are mobile X-band radars drivers take directly to the heart of storms and other weather phenomenon for detailed views others can’t see.
A corporate director of weather operations spearheads the effort and helps the stations make the most of the investment. “Weather has always been one of the most important things local stations do,” said Valari Staab, president of NBCUniversal-owned television stations.
While the equipment is impressive in its own right, the value is in the role it plays keeping communities safer. Not only are consumers able to use the radar images to keep track of storms, while pinpointing their neighborhoods’ vulnerability, they can also access them online and on mobile to get critical information in dangerous situations, even if they can’t get to a TV.
“Weather is important to all of us and can be a matter of life and death,” Staab said. “Our stations want to be at the forefront of offering the best, most lifesaving information possible.”