Comments on: Simple Forecasting: Weather Balls

By: tweber

tweber — Tue, 20 May 2008 23:43:57 +0000

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!

By: alphabitch

alphabitch — Tue, 20 May 2008 21:16:47 +0000

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.

By: Gayle

Gayle — Tue, 20 May 2008 20:36:25 +0000

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.

By: Dave

Dave — Tue, 20 May 2008 16:48:48 +0000

An older friend of mine has a button from the era of the first GR Weather Ball-

“Weather ball black = nuclear attack!”

By: Jim

Jim — Tue, 20 May 2008 16:42:40 +0000

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….

By: Justin L

Justin L — Tue, 20 May 2008 14:25:54 +0000

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!

By: kate

kate — Tue, 20 May 2008 13:57:53 +0000

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?

By: Toby

Toby — Tue, 20 May 2008 13:48:37 +0000

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.”

By: GFoskett

GFoskett — Tue, 20 May 2008 13:26:41 +0000

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.

By: rstein

rstein — Tue, 20 May 2008 12:41:53 +0000

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.