Weather beacon

Weather beacon barometer atop the Westpac Place building in Sydney

A weather beacon is a beacon that indicates the local weather forecast in a code of colored or flashing lights. Often, a short poem or jingle accompanies the code to make it easier to remember. (example, example 2)

The beacon is usually on the roof of a tall building in a central business district, but some are attached to towers. The beacons are most commonly owned by financial services companies and television stations and are part of advertising and public relations programs. They provide a very basic forecast for the general public and not as an aid to navigation.

In addition to displaying weather forecasts, some weather beacons have been used to signal victory or defeat for a professional sports home team.

History

The first attempt to create a weather beacon as a form of advertising was from Douglas Leigh, who, in 1941, arranged a lighting scheme for the Empire State Building to display a weather forecast code with a decoder to be packaged with Coca-Cola bottles. The plan was never implemented because of the attack on Pearl Harbor later that year.^[1] Mr. Leigh resurrected his idea in Minneapolis in October 1949 with the Northwestern National Bank Weatherball.^[2]

In Australia, the Mutual Life and Citizens insurance company installed weather beacons atop its buildings in 1957 and '58.^[3]

Weather beacons were most popular during the 1950s and '60s.

Similar devices

• Coastal warning display tower
• Time ball
• Paris balloon
• Harbinger at The Met Condos, Toronto, is a colored beacon on the roof that indicates the current wind speed.

List of weather beacons

Australia

• New South Wales
  • MLC Building, North Sydney^[4]
  • Westpac Place, Sydney^[5]
• Queensland
  • Hitachi Building (MLC Building), 239 George Street, Brisbane (1976 – 6pm, 26 November 2007)^{[6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13]}
  • Old MLC Building, 243 Edward Street, Brisbane (28 July 1958 – ????; non-functioning)
• South Australia
  • Beacon House (MLC Building), Victoria Square, Adelaide (June 1958 – December 1979)^[14][15]
• Victoria
  • IOOF Building (formerly MLC), 303 Collins Street, Melbourne (1973 – ????; non-functioning)^[3][16]
  • Carlton & United Brewery, Abbotsford^[3]
• Western Australia
  • Kingsgate Apartments (formerly MLC building) 171 St Georges Terrace, Perth (October 1957 – ????; dismantled)

Austria

• Wetterleuchtturm, Ringturm, Vienna

Belgium

• Who's afraid of Red, Green and Blue: Weather Tower, Dexia Tower, Brussels (22 October 2007 – 22 December 2007)^[17][18]

Canada

• Kitchener City Hall, Kitchener, Ontario
• Canada Life Building, Toronto, Ontario (9 August 1951 – present)
• 505 Boulevard René-Lévesque Ouest, Montreal, Quebec (April 1956 – January 1976)^{[19][20][21][22][23]}
• The Plains Hotel, Regina (Being redeveloped as a Hilton Hotel)

Denmark

• Vejrpigerne (Weather Girls), Richshuset, The City Hall Square, Copenhagen
• Tomorrow's Weather, Copenhagen

Finland

• Näsinneula tower, Tampere

Germany

• Die Aachener Wettersäule, Aachen^[24]

Japan

• Tempozan Ferris Wheel, Osaka^[25]

Turkey

• Beyazıt Tower, Istanbul^[26]

United Kingdom

• Light Towers Project (Coventry Point, Mercia House, Hillman House), Coventry^[27][28][29]
• Castlemilk Lighting Project, Glasgow

United States

• California
  • Mattei Building (formerly Guarantee Savings), Fresno (non-functioning)^[30]
  • KXTV Weather Tower, Sacramento (24 August 2001 – present)^[31]
  • One Rincon Hill South Tower, San Francisco (8 December 2008 – present)^[32][33]
• Florida
  • American Federal Savings and Loan Association weather ball, Fidelity Storage building, 53 W. Jackson St., Orlando (1963 – 1974; dismantled)^[34][35]
  • First Federal Savings & Loan, Fourth Street and Central Avenue, St. Petersburg (1953 – 6 April 1970)
• Illinois
  • Weather Bell, Bell Federal Savings Building (street level), 79 West Monroe Street, Chicago^{[36][37][38][39]}
    • Bell Federal Savings branch office, Michigan Avenue, Chicago^[40]
  • WLS-TV Thermometer, Marina City, Chicago (1964 – 1978; dismantled)^[41]
• Iowa
  • KCCI, Des Moines (1960-1973, 1988-2012)^[42][43][44]
  • American Trust Tower, Dubuque
  • KCAU-TV Weather Ball, Terra Centre, Sioux City^[45]
• Kentucky
  • WLWT Weather Lights, Cincinnati Radisson, Covington^[46]
• Louisiana
  • Falstaff Brewery Weather Ball, 2601 Gravier St, New Orleans (1 August 1952 – 7 December 1978; 2008 – present)^{[47][48][49][50][51][52][53]}
• Massachusetts
  • Berkeley Building, Boston (15 March 1950 – present)^[54]
• Michigan
  • Citizens Bank (currently FirstMerit Bank) Weatherball, Flint (30 October 1956 – present)^[55]
  • 13 Weatherball, WZZM-TV, Grand Rapids (1967 – 1987 as Michigan National Bank; 2003 – present)^{[56][57][58][59]}
• Minnesota
  • WEBC Weather Beacon, Duluth^[60]
  • Northwestern National Bank Weatherball, Minneapolis (7 October 1949 – November 1982; dismantled)^{[61][62][63][64][65][66]}
    • Saint Paul branch office (dismantled)^[67]
    • Montevideo branch office
    • Rochester branch office^[68]
• Missouri
  • KCTV Tower, Kansas City (1970s-2001)
  • Business Men's Assurance Company (BMA) weather beacon, 215 W. Pershing Road, Kansas City (dismantled)^[69][70][71]
  • Terra Cotta Lofts (formerly General American Life Insurance Company building), 1501 Locust Street, St. Louis (1956–1979)^{[72][73][74][75][76]}
• Montana
  • US Bank Tower, Billings (dismantled)^[77]
  • Union Bank Weather Ball, Helena^[78]
• Nebraska
  • KMTV Weather Tower, N. 72nd Street, Omaha
• New York
  • Mutual of New York Building, W. 55th Street & Broadway, New York City (non-functioning)^[79][80][81]
  • AXA Towers (MONY) Weatherstar, Syracuse
• North Carolina
  • Manteo Weather Tower ^[82]
• North Dakota
  • Provident Beacon, Bismarck^[83][84][85]
• Ohio
  • 12 WKRC Weather Beacon, Chiquita Center, Cincinnati (1987–1990s?)^[86][87]
• Oklahoma
  • First Liberty Bank, Ramsey Tower/City Place, Oklahoma City (dismantled)^[88]
  • NBT Weather Teller, 320 South Boston Building, Tulsa^[89][90][91]
• Oregon
  • Standard Insurance Plaza, Portland^{[92][93][94][95][96]}
  • Weather Machine, Pioneer Courthouse Square, Portland
• Pennsylvania
  • WTAE-TV Weather Watch, Carnegie Science Center, Pittsburgh^[97][98]
  • Gulf Tower, Pittsburgh^[99][100]
  • Berks County Courthouse, 633 Court Street, Reading, Pennsylvania^[101][102]
• South Dakota
  • KELO weatherball, Sherman Hotel, Aberdeen (dismantled)^[103]
  • First National Bank, Pierre
  • National Bank of South Dakota (now US Bank), 141 N. Main Avenue, Sioux Falls (non-functioning)^[104]
    • East Branch, East 10th & Omaha, Sioux Falls (dismantled)
    • South Branch, 33rd & Minnesota, Sioux Falls (non-functioning)^[105][106]
    • Sunset Branch, West 41st & Louise Avenue (dismantled)
  • KDLO weatherball tower, 421 9th Av SE, Watertown (dismantled)
• Tennessee
  • Provident Weather Beacon, Provident Life and Accident Insurance Company (now Unum), Maclellan Building, Chattanooga (12 January 1952 – ????; dismantled)^[107][108]
  • Life & Casualty Tower, Nashville (nonfunctioning)^[109][110]
• Texas
  • Mercantile Weather Tower, Mercantile National Bank Building, Dallas (1958–1993; 12 February 2008 – present)^{[111][112][113]}
  • 100 North Stanton Street, El Paso (1955 – ????; non-functioning)
  • Texas National Bank (later Conoco) Weather Eye, Travis Tower, Houston (17 October 1955 – 1964; dismantled)^{[114][115][116][117][118][119]}
  • Alamo National Bank weather spire (now Drury Plaza Hotel), 105 S. St. Mary's Street, San Antonio^[120][121]
• Utah
  • KSL-TV 5 Eyewitness Weather Tower, Trolley Square, Salt Lake City^[122]
  • Walker Center, 175 S. Main Street, Salt Lake City (1953 – 1982; 2008 – present)^[123][124]
• Virginia
  • Newmarket Shopping Center, Newport News
• Wisconsin
  • Weather Flame, Wisconsin Gas Building, Milwaukee (1956 – present)^{[125][126][127]}
  • Oshkosh National Bank, 300 N. Main Street, Oshkosh (dismantled)

Gallery

• 

  Brisbane

• 

  Melbourne

• 

  Vienna

• 

  Kitchener

• 

  Toronto

• 

  Copenhagen

• 

  Tampere

• 

  Aachen

• 

  Osaka

• 

  Istanbul

• 

  Fresno

• 

  Sacramento

• 

  San Francisco

• 

  Des Moines

• 

  Dubuque

• 

  New Orleans

• 

  Boston

• 

  Flint

• 

  Grand Rapids

• 

  Kansas City

• 

  New York City

• 

  Syracuse

• 

  Cincinnati (no longer in use)

• 

  Portland

• 

  Pittsburgh

• 

  Pittsburgh

• 

  Nashville (no longer functional)

• 

  Dallas

• 

  Salt Lake City

• 

  Salt Lake City

• 

  Milwaukee

Notes

1. Manhattan Users Guide
2. "Remembering a beloved icon", Northwestern Financial Review
3. Federation and Meteorology, Memories of the Bureau, 1946 to 1962, page 1032
4. MLC Building, North Sydney
5. Photo of Westpac Place: View of the weather beacon displaying its red light panels
6. Brisbane's weather beacon: new bulbs needed! :: ABC Brisbane
7. Brisbane's Weather Beacon » ABC Brisbane
8. Hitachi Building, Brisbane
9. Hitachi Building Weather Beacon RIP sur Flickr : partage de photos !
10. Weather beacon to be given the flick – Queensland – BrisbaneTimes
11. McCarthy, John (19 November 2007). "Weather beacon to be turned off". The Courier-Mail.
12. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=casRsothePY
13. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nTGwaUziEvQ
14. MLC Building, Adelaide
15. Lloyd, Tim (30 March 2007). "City beacon stands tall". The Advertiser.
16. 303 Collins Street, Melbourne
17. "Who's afraid of Red, Green and Blue" – an urban installation by LAb[au] on Brussels Dexia Tower
18. Dexiatower
19. Coolopolis: Montreal 50s SKYTOWER woot-woot!!!!
20. 505 Boulevard René-Lévesque Ouest, Montreal
21. 2,640 Colored Bulbs Will Predict Weather, The Gazette, 13 April 1956, p. 23
22. Montreal this morning, The Gazette, 14 Jan. 1976, p. 3
23. Correction, The Gazette, 17 Jan. 1976, p. 4 (beacon to be demolished, not building)
24. STAWAG – Die Wettersäule
25. http://www.city.osaka.jp/english/osaka_walking/lv1.html
26. Beyazit Tower
27. icCoventry – Put that light out!
28. Coventry Design Awards 2001 – Three Towers Lighting Project : Hillman House, Corporation Street
29. http://www.mondiale.co.uk/mondoarc/coventry/coventry.html
30. Mattei Building, Fresno
31. News10.net – News10 Weather Tower Key
32. http://www.socketsite.com/ORH%20Weather%20Beacon%20Card.jpg
33. Nolte, Carl (8 December 2008). "Lights atop One Rincon Hill signal S.F. weather". San Francisco Chronicle. pp. B–1. Retrieved 13 December 2008.
34. Dickinson, Joy Wallace (7 April 2002). "Short Play Brings Rainmaker's 1939 Tale Back to Life". Orlando Sentinel.
35. Orlando Sentinel – History of the Church Street Station Area by
36. Bell Savings Building, Chicago
37. Clocks of Chicago 1: Bell Federal
38. Weather Bell sur Flickr : partage de photos !
39. Weather Bell
40. Clocks of Chicago 1: Bell Federal Savings
41. Memories Of Marina City
42. KCCI Weather Beacon – Des Moines Weather News Story – KCCI Des Moines
43. Warmer Weather Ahead sur Flickr : partage de photos !
44. Colder Weather in Sight sur Flickr : partage de photos !
45. Channel 9 KCAU-TV Weather Ball
46. "What Do The Weather Lights Mean?". WLWT.com. Hearst Television. 17 April 2009. Retrieved 2 September 2010.
47. 1952 The Falstaff Weather Ball is First Lit
48. http://clarionherald.org/20010301/stall.htm
49. The Urban Conservancy › News Roundup › Falstaff Brewery complex sold for $1.1 million (27 Jun 2006)
50. Falstaff Brewery – New Orleans Louisiana sur Flickr : partage de photos !
51. New Orleans CityBusiness – The Business Newspaper of Metropolitan New Orleans
52. New Orleans, Louisiana Daily Photo
53. Nostalgia: Falstaff Weather Ball
54. Tower shines after 50 years: 10/1/00
55. http://www.mlive.com/business/mid-michigan/index.ssf/2013/11/watch_as_two_women_with_strong.html
56. http://www.wzzm13.com/weather/weatherball.asp
57. Grand Rapids Business Journal – Weather Ball History
58. weather ball sur Flickr : partage de photos !
59. Valley City Sign
60. The Technical History of WEBC Radio: Chapter Five
61. New Header
62. Guided by History: Weatherball
63. MNHS.ORG | Exhibits | Weather Permitting
64. History of the NWS in the Twin Cities – At the Airport
65. A History of Minneapolis: Banking and Finance
66. "Remembering a beloved icon". Northwestern Financial Review. 2001.
67. MHS Visual Resource Database Image
68. http://books.google.com/books?id=Z6k2sY7AeCwC&pg=PA121&dq=weatherball#PPA121,M1
69. http://www.kchistory.org/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/Askren&CISOPTR=58&CISOBOX=1&REC=7
70. http://www.hoachorus.com/harmonotes/Dec05Harmonotes.pdf
71. Pershing Building, Kansas City
72. http://www.terracottalofts.com/bldghistory.asp
73. Blacktie-StLouis | PREMIERE EVENTS | The 8-foot, 1200-pound neon ball sits on top of a 50-foot rotating tower and can be seen over a 10-mile radius when lit
74. Terra Cotta Lofts, St. Louis
75. Weather Ball 2 sur Flickr : partage de photos !
76. Weather Ball sur Flickr : partage de photos !
77. US Bank Tower, Billings
78. Helena_Last_Chance_Gulch
79. Dunlap, David W. (4 February 2008). "No More MONY in the Midtown Skyline". The New York Times.
80. Gothamist: Find Another Weather Forecast
81. Mutual of New York Building, New York City
82. http://townofmanteo.com/index.asp?Type=B_BASIC&SEC={887829A3-F959-42C2-95C7-248BCDF8D423}&DE={82D8218D-C660-4DA1-89F4-E6303D384BA8}
83. Burleigh County : General Information
84. Bismarck-Mandan Blog – Weather Beacon: been there, done that, got the t-shirt
85. Save the Weather Beacon! You can help!
86. Chiquita Center, Cincinnati
87. Lisa Miller (producer) (1987). WKRC-TV Gets Weather Beacon (Television advertisement). Cincinnati, Ohio: WKRC-TV. ♪ If you wanna know / what the weather will be / just look up to the top / of the Chiquita Building. ♪
88. http://books.google.com/books?id=4dz2XwSzSKEC&pg=PA23&lpg=PA23&dq=%22weather+beacon%22+%22oklahoma+city%22&source=web&ots=Wc-AsNw0-b&sig=6GVF-IjtOoYxsQG8muL2OKXZ7uU#PPA23,M1
89. Tulsa TV Weather
90. Tulsa Historical Society | Learn | Exhibits | Historic Sites
91. 320 S. Boston 3 sur Flickr : partage de photos !
92. http://www.pdxmagazine.com/Nov_issue_06.pdf
93. Standard Insurance Plaza, Portland
94. "Sign in to OregonLive.com". The Oregonian.
95. Downtown Portland from our window by Gallun : Weather Underground
96. officeflowers sur Flickr : partage de photos !
97. http://www.carnegiesciencecenter.org/default.aspx?pageId=47
98. New twist on an old landmark – Pittsburgh Tribune-Review
99. Gulf Building, Pittsburgh
100. http://www.cparchives.com/archive.cfm?type=You%20Had%20to%20Ask&action=getComplete&ref=2497
101. http://www.readingeagle.com/article.aspx?id=126076
102. http://www.co.berks.pa.us/commissioners/cwp/view.asp?A=11&Q=490871
103. http://www.topix.net/content/kri/1954371012356518807938181913012655219491
104. US Bank Building, Sioux Falls
107. 28 January 2007 – Provident: a Beacon in the Chattanooga Community – Memories – Chattanoogan.com
108. Maclellan Building, Chattanooga
109. http://www.nashvillewebreview.com/automat/nashville/popular_buildings/LandC/landc_brochure/LandC2.html. Missing or empty |title= (help)
110. http://www.cardcow.com/21559/life-and-casualty-tower-nashville-us-state-town-views-tennessee-nashville/
111. http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/localnews/stories/DN-mercantileclock_13met.ART.State.Edition1.454c55b.html
112. http://www.snarkymalarkey.com/?p=415
113. Mercantile clock to tick once again | Dallas Morning News | News for Dallas, Texas | Steve Brown | Real Estate | Business Columnist | Dallas Morning News
114. The Center for American History
115. ImageShack – Hosting :: 6006032fa.jpg
116. Travis Tower, Houston
117. ImageShack – Hosting :: 6006085yc.jpg
118. http://www.wxresearch.org/newsletter/FALL95.TXT
119. SixFlagsHouston.com | Photos :: Historical Photos :: globe
120. Drury Plaza Hotel River Walk, San Antonio, Texas
121. Drury Plaza Hotel- San Antonio Riverwalk, San Antonio
122. KSL 5 Eyewitness Weather Tower at Trolley Square – Utah News from KSL-TV, Salt Lake City, Utah
123. http://deseretnews.com/article/1,5143,695216239,00.html
124. ksl.com – Historic weather tower lights up skyline
125. http://www.findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4196/is_20060308/ai_n16164672. Missing or empty |title= (help)
126. JS Online: Galvin envisioned weather flame on old Gas Co. building
127. Wisconsin Gas Building sur Flickr : partage de photos !