weather.com Launches Exclusive Proprietary Tools: Sun Safety Advisor And UV Index

Business Wire, June 4, 2001

Business Editors

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 4, 2001

New Customized Products Geared Towards Sun Safety are

the First in a Series of Personalized Weather Tools to be

Available Exclusively on the Popular Web Site

In conjunction with The Weather Channel's national sun safety initiative, Rays Awareness, weather.com, the world's leading source of weather on the Web and the official Web site of The Weather Channel(R) has launched two customized and proprietary health tools available exclusively at weather.com. In an effort to help users safely enjoy the sun the site has developed a Sun Safety Advisor (SSA) and UV Index Outlook.

Beginning June 4, users can log on to weather.com to receive a personalized sun safety recommendation by entering their location, date, skin type, activity, age and duration of exposure to the sun. weather.com then recommends the appropriate sunscreen SPF, tells users the amount of radiation they will receive and the amount of skin damage this can cause if they are unprotected and delivers additional sun safety tips. Users can access the Sun Safety Advisor by logging on to www.weather.com/raysawareness or by clicking on the site's Health section. The product incorporates the site's proprietary UV Index -- a calculation that uses risk-level categories (0-10 ) to represent the level of skin-damaging UV radiation.

The SSA and UV Index are the first in a series of proprietary tools weather.com will launch in the coming months. weather.com's goal is to develop a customized and exclusive product for every vertical available on the site such as Driving, Travel, Work Site and Recreation. The site has also just recently unveiled the Indoor Humidity Calculator and plans are underway to launch a Vacation Planner in the next few months. Like the Sun Safety Advisor, both of these products, combine weather data with users' personal information in order to provide a unique online planning tool. All tools are the property of The Weather Channel Enterprises and were invented exclusively for weather.com, by weather.com associates.

The Indoor Humidity Calculator, located in the Home & Garden section, evaluates outdoor conditions and the indoor thermostat setting to tell users the percentage of humidity inside their home. The Vacation Recommendation Engine combines weather.com's climatology data, comprised of a geographic location's averages and records, and the user's preference for the types of conditions they would like to experience. From that, a personalized list of desirable locations is generated.

"With the development of proprietary tools such as the SSA, UV Index and Indoor Humidity Calculator, weather.com is evolving into more than just an online weather destination," said Debora Wilson, CEO and president of weather.com. "The addition of personalized weather-related tools is the first step in achieving weather.com's goal to translate weather data in a way that allows users to plan their daily activities accordingly, no matter where they may be."

About weather.com

weather.com, The Weather Channel(R) Web site, is the world's leading source of weather on the Web. weather.com is consistently ranked among the top single-content sites on the Web by Media Metrix and one of the leading news and information sites by Nielsen//NetRatings. Averaging 300 million page views and 14 million unique users per month, the weather.com network offers comprehensive forecasts for more than 77,000 locations worldwide and provides relevant content to help users plan for everyday life. Additionally, weather.com is the leading provider of broadband and wireless weather products accessible through high-speed Internet services, phones, pagers, Palm Pilots, and other personal digital assistants. Partnerships include America Online, ESPN.com, AT&T WorldNet, ABCNews.com, Verizon Wireless, Sprint PCS, Cingular Wireless, AT&T Wireless, AvantGo, Excite@Home and Palm Computing.