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.^[1][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.^[3] Leigh resurrected his idea in Minneapolis in October 1949 with the Northwestern National Bank Weatherball.^[4]

In Australia, the Mutual Life and Citizens insurance company installed weather beacons atop its buildings in 1957 and 1958.^[5]

Weather beacons were most popular during the 1950s and 1960s.

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.^[6]

List of weather beacons

Australia

• New South Wales
  • MLC Building, North Sydney^[7]
  • Westpac Place, Sydney^[8]
• Queensland
  • Hitachi Building (MLC Building), 239 George Street, Brisbane (1976 – 6pm, 26 November 2007)^{[9][10][11][12][13][14]}
  • 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)^[15][16]
• Victoria
  • IOOF Building (formerly MLC), 303 Collins Street, Melbourne (1973 – ????; non-functioning)^[5][17]
  • Carlton & United Brewery, Abbotsford^[5]
• 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)^[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)^[24]

Denmark

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

Finland

• Näsinneula tower, Tampere

Germany

• Die Aachener Wettersäule, Aachen^[25]

Japan

• Tempozan Ferris Wheel, Osaka^[26]

Turkey

• Beyazıt Tower, Istanbul^[27]

United Kingdom

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