Accu 50th Anniversary: Google Weather Week

If it seems like I've been quiet lately, it's because I've been working harder than I have in a long time. First, it was Hurricane Sandy, the storm of the century, which had the entire AccuWeather crew burning the candle at both ends; yet before, during and after the storm, we were marketing our 50th Anniversary (stories, infographics, and more at TinyURL.com/Accu50th) as well. That's right, AccuWeather started 50 years ago this week, when our President and Founder Dr. Joel N. Myers first produced a weather forecast for a local utility. Find out more about how we started in this video. (I have a cameo because of this photo just before the end.):

Thanks to Google's help, this week is "Weather Week" in honor of our anniversary. There will be a series of five "Google Events" moderated by me, that you can watch, about various topics, shown below. They will be simulcast on YouTube and embedded here (and in our news story and this YouTube playlist).

Monday's Hangout was about Social Media and the Weather:

On Tuesday I talked with Olga from Google about Weather Gadgets:

Wednesday's "History of Storm Chasing" hangout included storm chasers / photographers Bill Reid and Jeff Gammons:

I had pre-taped an interview with Martin Lisius, who was unable to attend, but I was unable to play it as planned during the Hangout; it is available below. Due to audio problems, you can't hear me asking the questions, but they were: 1.) How did you get started in Storm Chasing? 2.) How did you start "Tempest" Tours? 3.) When do you chase? 4.) What was the best storm that your team chased?

Thursday's hangout was about the 50th Anniversary of AccuWeather and the history of weather data collection and presentation. I was joined by Weather Historian Bill Murray and AccuWeather's Dr. Joe Sobel, who has been with the company for more than 30 years:

During Friday's Hangout, we attempted to look into our crystal balls to think what the weather industry might look like in the next 5 to 50 years:

This project has been dear to my heart, not only because I've been here for nearly a third of that time span, but because I believe in this company and what we do, and the people here. We've seen so many companies come and go over that time. Even that other "channel of weather" just turned 30. Who else has been around for 50 years? Wal-Mart and Target, to drop a couple names.

Anyway, I've come across a plethora of fascinating old videos and photos as I've been helping out with the project here at AccuWeather, and I'll bring more of them to you in the upcoming weeks. Here's just a taste from the early 1970s (that's Dr. Joe Sobel and Evan Myers up top; Joel Myers and Elliot Abrams on the bottom).

And what anniversary blog would be complete without a cheesy commercial from the 1980s?

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