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Portland, Oregon has long had a Weather Ball — a series of lights that tell you, in rough terms, a weather forecast. It’s located downtown, on top of a building. From many locations in Portland you can spot the ball and get a general sense of upcoming weather. In Portland, the lights are coded like so (thanks to Lyza Gardner for the explanation):
It can tell you one of six things, that is:
1. It’s going to get hotter (steady red)
2. It’s going to get colder (steady white)
3. It’s going to stay about the same (steady green)
4. (and 5 and 6) It’s going to precipitate (blinking [plus a color above])
While this isn’t much use for someone like myself who’s, ahem, color confused, it’s a neat idea, and surprisingly little-known among newer residents of the city. I rarely care about the specifics of the forecast: for me it’s enough to know it’ll be “hotter”; “colder”; or, say, “colder and raining.” That’s exactly what the Portland Weather Ball does well — and does it for free, all the time. Just look to the horizon, locate the light, and you’ve got your next day’s weather.
It turns out that such weather beacons exist in many cities around the world. Pictured above left is the “WZZM 13 Weatherball” in Grand Rapids, Michigan (I couldn’t find pictures of Portland’s rather less grandiose ball). To see the Grand Rapids ball in action, check out this Flickr search.
Wikipedia explains the origins of weather beacons as advertisements:
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 the decoder packaged with Coca-Cola bottles. The plan was abandoned following the attack on Pearl Harbor later that year. Mr. Leigh resurrected his idea in Minneapolis in October 1949 with the Northwestern National Bank Weatherball.
Is there a weather ball in your neighborhood? If so, do people know about it, or is it just one more light on the horizon?
Not in my neighborhood now (NYC) but the old John Hancock Building in Boston is one. Stead red = nice weather, steady blue = cold, blinking red = rain, blinking blue = snow instead
posted by karen on 5-19-2008 at 4:12 pm
When I was a kid one of the local banks had weather balls on the signs in front of all their branch banks. There was a poem that they used for interpreting the colors and whether it was blinking or solid… I wish I could remember that.
posted by Dave on 5-19-2008 at 4:42 pm
Yeah, Boston’s old Hancock building is famous (as stated above). Here’s the helpful rhyme to remember it:
“Solid blue, clear view….”
“Flashing blue, clouds due….”
“Solid red, rain ahead….”
“Flashing red, snow instead….” - (except in summer; flashing red means the Red Sox game was rained out)
posted by Amy on 5-19-2008 at 4:46 pm
There’s one in downtown St. Louis at 15th and Locust, on top of what used to be the General American Life Building.
posted by jeem on 5-19-2008 at 4:47 pm
Cincinnati has one on a building downtown. There were commercials in the late 80’s with a jingle:
“If the building’s red
Warmer weather ahead.
If the building’s blue,
Colder weather is due.
If the building’s green
Precipitation’s foreseen.
If the building’s white
there’s no change in sight.”
I like the idea of mixed signals that allow one to know it’ll be both colder and rainy tomorrow. The way it is, you don’t always know. That would be important in the winter, too — if it’s green you don’t know if it’ll be snow or rain. I guess that’s what The Weather Channel is for, then.
posted by RSN on 5-19-2008 at 4:54 pm
Flint, Michigan has one too, which was always a source of great amusement for our family! Flint’s poem goes like this:
When the weather ball is red, higher temperatures ahead.
When the weather ball is blue, lower temperatures are due.
Yellow light in weather ball means there’ll be no change at all.
When colors blink in agitation, there’s going to be precipitation.
posted by bolkys on 5-19-2008 at 5:19 pm
The Weather Ball in Portland is going to be kind of anticlimactic. Much more interesting is the Weather Machine, which I put a link to in my name.
posted by Mary Sue on 5-19-2008 at 5:25 pm
There’s one on the top of the Canada Life building in Toronto…
It says the following things (according to Wikipedia):
* Steady green = fair weather
* Red = cloudy skies
* White flashes = snow
* Red flashes = rain
* Lights running up = rising temperatures
* Lights running down = falling temperatures
* Steady lights = steady temperature
I did not realize it had all those features, i just thought it was the temperature thing, not whether or not there’d be snow or rain.
posted by katie on 5-19-2008 at 5:33 pm
I’ve lived in Portland for 30 years and never knew that the light had meaning. Thanks! As for the weather machine, it’s neat, but you have to go to Pioneer Courthouse Square to see it.
posted by Johnny Cat on 5-19-2008 at 6:04 pm
Growing up in Billings, Montana, the Midland Tower was our weather beacon. Learned these rhymes as a kid:
Midland Tower red as fire,
Temperatures will soon go higher.
Midland Tower white as snow,
Down the temperatures will go.
Midland Tower emerald green,
No change in temperature is foreseen.
Midland Tower blinking white,
Snow or rain foreseen tonight.
posted by MJ on 5-19-2008 at 6:17 pm
Anyone grow up in Minneapolis in the 50’s? Yeah, I know, I’m old!
I haven’t though about the Weather Ball in YEARS!!!!!!! It was either the electric comapany, NSP, or the gas company, Minnegasco, that sponsered the old ball.
When the weather ball is red, warmer weather is ahead
When the weather ball is green, no change is forseen
When the weather ball is white, colder weather is in site
When the weather ball is blinking precipitaion is in the making( or it’s doing something..I can’t quite remember that line.)
TOO FUNNY!
posted by tweber on 5-19-2008 at 6:53 pm
I’m SOOO jealous! Ignorance was bliss, how can my town get one??? We NEED ONE!!!
posted by Ingrid on 5-19-2008 at 6:54 pm
Sacramento has the News 10 tower.
Red is +100 degrees; yellow’s just plain sunny; green is rainy; blue is windy; white is cloudy. Purple means one of our basketball teams just won. Based on an informal survey, I would say most people know it’s forecasting weather, but very few know the code. (Which is linked in my name.)
posted by Miss Kiki on 5-19-2008 at 6:55 pm
I just added the Walker Center in Salt Lake City, which my dad pointed out to me when I was home in Utah a couple weeks ago, to the Wikipedia entry.
posted by jesse on 5-19-2008 at 7:29 pm
What a surprise. I come check on the site and lo and behold I see my local weather ball. It’s weird seeing it online. They have a little jingle for it too. It goes like this;
Thirteen weather ball green, no change foreseen.
Thirteen weather ball blue, cooler in view.
Thirteen weather ball red, warmer ahead.
Colors blinking bright, rain or snow in sight.
Yeah it’s lame, but it gets the job done.
posted by Connor on 5-19-2008 at 8:42 pm
This reminds me of the old “weather rock” gag common among Boy Scout troops. While out camping, they hang a rock from a string suspended from a tripod of three sticks and explain to the uninitiated that this “weather rock” tells the weather: When the rock is wet, it’s raining; when it’s hot, it’s sunny; when it’s white, it’s snowing . . .
posted by Karl Weber on 5-19-2008 at 8:49 pm
The Grand Rapids weatherball pictured is actually a replacement of an earlier ball that was up for decades. It was also a local thing everyone knew about…but you are right you could def. tell non-locals because they just wondered what the odd ball was for.
GRR weatherball hx:
www.wzzm13.com/weather/weatherball.asp
posted by MidwestMedic on 5-19-2008 at 9:40 pm
I’ve never heard of a weather ball, but I’m well familiar with the weather rock Karl referred to. If it’s gone, tornado.
posted by Miss Cellania on 5-19-2008 at 11:29 pm
Mine is the GR Weather Ball. To be honest, I don’t watch WZZM at all. And most of my friends don’t. But we all know where the ball is and the “fun” rhyme that goes with it to remember what the colors mean. I used to tell my friends from out of town that it was the National Security Threat Alert Ball. Or that it signaled the city’s power grid. They’d believe it until they’d accidentally find out otherwise. Lol.
posted by Nell on 5-20-2008 at 5:54 am
There used to be one on top of a building in Pittsburg, PA when I was a kid. It didn’t turn green, but it did turn red and blue.
Maybe someone who lives there today would know if it still works.
posted by rstein on 5-20-2008 at 7:41 am
From a web site describing the weather flame on a building in downtown Milwaukee:
The Milwaukee Gas Light Building was bought by a private developer in 2001, and the weather flame has adorned Milwaukee’s skyline since 1956. The flame is 21 feet tall, weighs 4 tons and reportedly can be seen from as far as 30 miles away.
The meaning of the colors has differed over the past five decades, but today’s users can remember this handy poem:
When the flame is red, it’s warm weather ahead.
When the flame is gold, watch out for cold.
When the flame is blue, there’s no change in view.
When there’s a flickering flame, expect snow or rain.
posted by GFoskett on 5-20-2008 at 8:26 am
Des Moines, Iowa has a weather beacon.
“weather beacon red, warmer weather is ahead.
weather beacon white, colder weather is in sight.
weather beacon green, no change in weather is foreseen.
weather beacon blinking by night or day, precipitation is on the way.”
posted by Toby on 5-20-2008 at 8:48 am
I’ve never known of such a thing in Nebraska, but perhaps it’s because the weather is too fickle for it to keep up. What is the forecast range for the balls? Hours? Days?
posted by kate on 5-20-2008 at 8:57 am
Mine too is the WZZM weather ball. Its kinda cool, for what it is. My wife grew up in GR and always has some sort of story about it from when she was younger.
as an aside - its cool to see some many Grand Rapids flossers!
posted by Justin L on 5-20-2008 at 9:25 am
The building in Pittsburgh is the Gulf Building, a cool “traditional” skyscraper (not a glass block).
I don’t think they do that anymore, but the PGH Science Center does that with there unique building design, which is just as cool….
posted by Jim on 5-20-2008 at 11:42 am
An older friend of mine has a button from the era of the first GR Weather Ball-
“Weather ball black = nuclear attack!”
posted by Dave on 5-20-2008 at 11:48 am
I never knew that was a weatherball in Portland! It’s on the building next to mine and it’s a perfect view from a friend here. During the winter they had green lights to make it look like a christmas tree, but really it just looked dumb! But, I can happily report, it may rain in portland today.
posted by Gayle on 5-20-2008 at 3:36 pm
tweber: It was the North West Bank Building(s) that had them, and they gave out piggybanks with the poem on the back. The banks were shaped like their sign/logo/weatherball. The one downtown had its weatherball on the very top, and a four-sided blinking neon sign that went from NW to BANK (only vertically), and it stayed up even after the name changed to Norwest and the logo changed and they got rid of all the weatherballs on their bank buildings. This was way before they became Wells Fargo.
But I watched that last one go up in flames during that Thanksgiving Day fire downtown, what year was that? Early or mid 80s, maybe? We saw the fire from the dinner table and walked downtown to watch it all.
The demise of the last weatherball saddened me.
posted by alphabitch on 5-20-2008 at 4:16 pm
alphabitch…I stand corrected! You’re right. It WAS the North West Bank waether ball. My family also informed me last night that I wasn’t remembering it right. I think I was thinking of the NSP logo character with a round head that resembled the weather ball… so much for reliable memories. I moved out of MSP in 1972 so I kind of lost track of the weather ball’s life. Thanks for correcting me!
posted by tweber on 5-20-2008 at 6:43 pm