Press Releases

Press  >  August 24, 2005 Release

WeatherBug® Professional Streamer 3.0 Delivers “Silver Bullet” to Energy Traders

WeatherBug Enables Energy Trading Companies to Anticipate Weather Fluctuations and Forecast Potential Electricity and Gas Price Market Changes 24x7 with Laser Precision

Leading Energy Traders Privately Acknowledge WeatherBug Streamer As Real-Time Trading Advantage

Germantown, MD, – August 24, 2005 – WeatherBug®, the leading provider of live, local weather information services, today announced the release of WeatherBug Professional Streamer 3.0 for energy traders. With unprecedented precision, integration and perspective, energy traders can now quickly analyze existing and potential U.S. weather conditions for their trading regions that will likely impact electricity and gas price markets.

Energy traders view the United States map via WeatherBug Professional Streamer’s customized energy trading regions. Enhanced weather layering and mapping capabilities, coupled with the ability to target specific areas of interest, enables Streamer customers to view an overarching perspective. This allows them to then overlap and interpolate detailed weather conditions with live, neighborhood-level precision.

“With my interactive guidance, our traders use WeatherBug Streamer’s incomparable weather observation network to make real-time energy trading decisions that are proven to be financially rewarding to the company,” said Lieutenant Commander Michael E. Whitehead, (retired). Whitehead is a former naval meteorologist and one of the nation's premier operational energy meteorologists.

WeatherBug Streamer 3.0 offers the most comprehensive views of up-to-the-second weather information via its exclusive network of 8,000 WeatherBug Tracking Stations with streaming live data. This proprietary weather network and more than 1,000 WeatherBug cameras deliver views into sections of neighborhoods or entire counties for short-term forecasts and historical weather analysis tools such as:

• Pan and Zoom selected maps
• Layer up to five different data types on the same map (i.e. weather station, satellite, lightning and radar data)
• Two different data layers at once (i.e. temperature, humidity, radar, etc.)
• Control visible content (roads, counties, etc.)
• Integrate customer layer data (i.e. service territory) for accuracy and relevance

WeatherBug Streamer also includes interface alerting based on exclusive conditions reported in real-time by WeatherBug Tracking Stations, National Weather Service (NWS) Watches & Warnings and severe weather threats (i.e. lightning, hail, heavy precipitation) set by the user.

“WeatherBug Streamer offers a distinct competitive advantage for professionals in energy markets,” said John Doherty, senior vice president of professional service at WeatherBug. “We provide them with the ability to assess the weather instantly and accurately, so they can better prepare and respond with greater precision and performance. In short, the efficiencies provided by access to real-time weather reports, based upon real data, ensure their success.”

The current WeatherBug Streamer client list reads like a “Who’s Who” of the industry’s leading energy traders, who credit WeatherBug Streamer for their success at real-time trading. Because the energy trading industry is so competitive, clients are reluctant to disclose their “secret weapon” to their competitors or the media.

As expertise has dramatically increased in recent years, the energy trading industry has grown highly dependent on weather information for forecasting and alerting. Frequently, energy trading companies hire WeatherBug meteorologists. With a highly competitive landscape and strict regulatory changes, Streamer 3.0 helps the energy industry anticipate and respond to market fluctuations.

About WeatherBug^®

WeatherBug (www.weatherbug.com) ensures that individuals, schools, businesses and communities always get the most precise live weather conditions, the most relevant reports, and the earliest weather warnings to safeguard their property and their lives. WeatherBug owns the world's largest exclusive weather network, which has over 8,000 live WeatherBug Tracking Stations and more than 1,000 cameras that generate neighborhood level reports every second versus other weather providers whose data is up to an hour or more old. This network powers various products and services, including: WeatherBug, the number one weather Internet application, with over 60 million downloads, that streams live neighborhood conditions to its home and work users; WeatherBug Media Services, which delivers live weather information to over 80 million U.S. households through partnerships with more than 100 local television stations; WeatherBug Education, which provides engaging weather information and educational tools to schools and colleges, including an online learning program for K-12 schools called WeatherBug Achieve; and WeatherBug Professional Services, which uses the company's unique weather network and software to provide high-value solutions for vertical industries such as energy, transportation, and first response. WeatherBug is a brand of AWS Convergence Technologies, Inc. www.aws.com.

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Press Contacts:

Debra Eisenberg
WeatherBug
301-250-4017 - Office
301-523-9224 - Cell
Deisenberg@weatherbug.com