AccuWeather Launches Exclusive Crowdsourced Weather Feature AccUcast Worldwide in Android App

AccuWeather provides a new level of participation, engagement, and localization in weather forecasting for Android app users. AccuWeather Global Weather Center – October 11, 2016 – AccuWeather, the global leader in weather information and digital media, today introduced AccUcast™, the only crowdsourced weather feature that provides current weather conditions and hazards submitted by users in a real-time global animation map display, in the AccuWeather Android app. AccUcast, also available in the AccuWeather iOS app, enables users worldwide to take part in local weather updates and help others make the most informed decisions, saving lives and preventing property damage.

To share their weather experiences, users simply go to AccUcast, located on the AccuWeather Android app maps screen and main home screen, and submit their local weather and hazard condition observations for their GPS location. Weather conditions users can report include clear, partly cloudy, cloudy, rain, snow, ice, or hail, and hazards include damaging winds, slippery roads, flooding, fog, thunderstorms, and reduced visibility. Each user’s submission is easily identifiable on the animated map display, as their reported weather condition drops as a pin onto the map in real-time, while other users’ submissions appear as static icons. Users can interact with the detailed, appealing map display to view breaking weather conditions and hazards around the world.

“AccuWeather provides users with the most accurate, localized, and personalized weather information they need to make the most informed decisions, personalizing the weather so people can improve their lives,“ said Steven Smith, President of Digital Media at AccuWeather. “AccuWeather’s launch of AccUcast on our award-winning Android app allows users to actively participate in and engage with the weather community, reporting real-time updates through AccuWeather’s exclusive crowdsourced feature and supporting our mission to save lives and protect prevent property damage worldwide.”

On the animated map located in the AccuWeather Android app, crowdsourced weather observations can be seen as color-coded pins that can be tapped to reveal additional details including the condition, location, and time since submission. Each color-coded pin displays the reported condition with a weather-specific icon for easy scanning of weather patterns in localized areas.

Additional innovations available in the AccuWeather Android App are photo and video sharing which allows users to upload their favorite weather videos and photos, a social sharing option which gives users the ability to share any screen or video on social media directly from the app, the ability to select more than one location to receive severe weather alerts, and ‘Follow Me for On-Going Notification’ feature which can now update a user’s location automatically.

AccUcast joins a suite of industry-leading features within the AccuWeather app for Android, including AccuWeather MinuteCast®. Available for more global locations than any other minute-by-minute forecast, MinuteCast provides the only global minute-by-minute precipitation forecast for a given area over the next two hours. This unique and patented forecast provides hyper-localized data specific to a user’s exact street address or GPS location and includes precipitation type and intensity, as well as start and end times. It is available for a growing list of international locations, including the contiguous United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Ireland, Japan, France, Germany, Belgium, Spain, Switzerland, Netherlands, Scandinavia, Luxembourg, Korea, Gibraltar, Liechtenstein, and parts of the Czech Republic.

The award-winning AccuWeather app with AccUcast is free and available for download at the Google Play store and iTunes. About AccuWeather, Inc. and AccuWeather.comOver 1.5 billion people worldwide rely on AccuWeather to help them plan their lives, protect their businesses, and get more from their day. AccuWeather provides hour-by-hour and minute-by-minute forecasts with Superior Accuracy™ with customized content and engaging video presentations available through smart phones, tablets, free wired and mobile Internet sites via AccuWeather.com, award winning AccuWeather apps, connected TVs, wearables, smart homes, and connected cars, as well as radio, television, newspapers, and the AccuWeather Network cable channel. Established in 1962 by Founder, President, and Chairman Dr. Joel N. Myers - a Fellow of the American Meteorological Society who was recognized as one of the top entrepreneurs in American history by Entrepreneur Magazine's Encyclopedia of Entrepreneurs book - AccuWeather also delivers a wide range of highly-customized enterprise solutions to media, business, government, and institutions, as well as weather news, content, and video for more than 180,000 third-party websites. AccuWeather's CEO, Barry Lee Myers, is an award winning leader in global weather information issues and one of the world's most recognized advocates for cooperative relationships between government weather agencies and the weather industry. He is a leader in the digital weather information space.

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