"Storm preparation is a major concern for us here at the marina. Keeping employees and local boaters aware of pending storms is a critical concern.

"We use Weather Defender as an additional resource to provide as close as real time weather data to our guests.  I am still learning how to fine tune the data and am confident it will be a big hit with our customers.  We actually have a flat panel display set up in our office where both our employees and customers can observe weather current data."

Tom Raiola
Brewer Bruce & Johnson’s Marina
Branford, Connecticut

At first glance, many of our users don't realize the degree to which Weather Defender can be customized. But this is one of the software's greatest strengths, so we thought you should know about it.

Here's a recap of the tutorial videos we have recently released:

	Street-Level Weather Tracking Learn how to add local county and neighborhood streets to your map and track real-time weather down to the street-level. (2:59)  Watch Now »
	Create a 'Freezing Line' Learn how to use the Palette Editor to customize contour layers in Weather Defender. In this tutorial, we create a Freezine Line on the Temperature layer, indicating the precise location of freezing temperatures. (8:01)  Watch Now »
	Receive Weather Alerts by E-mail or Cellphone Weather Defender can be configured to deliver weather alerts in a variety of ways. Learn how to send weather alerts to an e-mail address or cell phone text message. (7:32)  Watch Now »
	Import a List of Custom Locations The Add Point tool is the easiest way to add custom locations to your map -- and keep tab on family or friends. But what if you have a long list of locations? This tutorial shows how you to import a table of locations to your map in one fell swoop. (9:26)  Watch Now »

 Do you have a tutorial suggestion? We'd love to hear about it!

"Weather Defender brings advanced warnings, accurate and reliable reporting right to my desk. With its advanced features, it provides the edge we need. And if you can get an edge like this, you need to take it. Winter weather is really hard to call.

"Winter weather is a life and death scenario. People make travel plans based on what they see and hear on radio & TV. We use Weather Defender because we need an absolutely reliable product. There are many alternatives which are not as reliable.

"In the case of winter weather for city government, we need predictive capabilities to be as accurate as possible because they use this information to make vital decisions, such as when and where to deploy snow plows, how many staff to allocate, pretty much everything on the decision side requires as much accuracy as possible. Having the edge on knowing when to plow, or how much snow to expect that can be a significant factor, making tens of thousands of dollars of difference.

"Finally, probably the most significant advantage is Weather Defender's e-mail based alerting. Being able to automatically e-mail people at various levels of the decision chain with specific threat information is crucial. Weather Defender keeps everyone on same page by bringing uniform information to all of us simultaneously."

Patrick Callahan
General Manager of OaheTV and Webmaster for City of Pierre
Pierre, South Dakota

Welcome to the Weather Resources section!

We have established this section of our website to provide useful weather and preparedness-related resources for our clients.

As of this writing, we are just getting started. Be sure to check back regularly as more content is always being added.

Do you operate a website? See our Link Exchange program.

"As a public servant in Morrison County I'm concerned that we provide our residents with the best information possible to enable them to adequately prepare in a timely fashion for what might be coming - whether it is flood, winter storms, severe thunder/lightning storms, tornados or whatever.  Our Public Safety and Public Works personnel need to be able to respond rapidly and strategically to changing conditions as well, and weather related events can play a big part in their ability to do so.

"One of our recent areas of focus is bringing the weather down to street and parcel level.  This gives us the ability to identify specific locations where there might be high concentrations of people in the path of a system, giving law enforcement and other agencies the ability to provide a more advanced notice than might otherwise be given - possibly saving lives.  Being able to add our own layers of data as an overlay to Weather Defender could potentially help us in this regard."

Mike Disher
Director of Technology Services
Morrison County, Minnesota

Today we are kicking off our new Link Exchange program at WeatherDefender.com!  This is exciting news for us and all our fellow weather buffs. To do this, we've created a special section of our site dedicated to housing links to weather resources and preparedness-related websites.

So, if you would like to have your link featured on our website, please visit our link submission page:

http://www.weatherdefender.com/LinkExchange.aspx

We will post links on a first-come, first-serve basis so if you want your site listed please be sure to submit your website details on our Link Exchange Form today!

Thanks and we look forward to your help in creating a library of helpful links for our visitors.

One of the most common compliments we receive about Weather Defender is how easy it is to use. Just how easy is it? Take a look at this weather forecast put together by one of our younger clients:

Custom snow forecast by KC Cornette (click to enlarge)

Kasey Cornette, age 10, writes:

"These colors show the amounts of snow i expect from the storm we are now experiencing which will not be over until Tuesday Feb 16th."

I asked Kasey how he created this forecast and he replied:

"I start with a blank Weather Defender page. I go to map,and I click on screenshot and save it to desktop. Then open,and left click on windows paint. I use a variety of modles to get snowfall averages, and coler the map accordingly."

Well done, Kasey!

"For a number of years, we would rely on the free internet weather sites for radar, local news channels for “real time” data, and lightning detectors for on-site alerts. Many of the websites, however, don’t update the radar data frequently. None of the sites gave us any predictive capabilities for where storms were headed.

"We started using [Weather Defender] a couple of years ago, and I was impressed with the frequency of radar updates and the ability for the software to predict where storms would move. With Weather Defender,  we now have a powerful weather tool for our business. The GIS capabilities allow us to fully customize the software for our location.

"We use Weather Defender as our “eye on the sky.” Our outdoor-based employees are trained to be “weather alert,” but Weather Defender's Alert Perimeters help us keep a closer watch on potential storms. Combined with the software's storm track capabilities, we can now be proactive, rather than reactive, when it comes to the weather. And the new Alert sounds, in particular the “thunder clap” and “tornado siren,” scares the daylights out of our office staff when a storm gets too close!"

Brian Vauter
Natural Bridge Caverns, Inc.
Cavern Geologist/Operations Manager

Another major storm headed to snowy Mid-Atlantic:

CNN Reports: "Another massive snowstorm barreled toward the mid-Atlantic region Tuesday, as forecasters told residents still reeling from a paralyzing weekend blizzard to prepare for more of the same.

Hundreds of flights were canceled, and airlines were waiting to see whether they would have to cancel more. Federal workers and schoolchildren in the nation's capital were told to stay home for a second consecutive day.

The National Weather Service predicted another 10 to 20 inches of snow for northern Virginia, eastern Maryland and Washington beginning Tuesday afternoon and continuing through Wednesday."

It's been said that 4 out of 5 companies fail in the first 5 years. And of those that remain, 4 out of 5 fail in the next 5 years. As we enter our 10th year in business at SWIFT Weather, this milestone is undoubtedly a proud achievement for us.

The last decade has seen a lot of changes. I'll admit it was rarely easy. But what a rewarding experience it has been to build a business devoted to protecting communities and saving lives.

As we look ahead, things only get more exciting. Thanks to the tremendous response to Weather Defender, our company has more than doubled in size in the last year and continues to grow. There are more enhancements, more clients, and more new projects than ever before. The future is looking bright, indeed.

My sincerest thanks to all of you, our customers, who have made this possible. You shared our vision for safer communities and citizen preparedness, and you make this vision a reality through your on-going support.

And my deepest thanks to the SWIFT Weather team: Mark, Doug, Liz, Emily, Bill, and Becca. This wouldn't be possible without you.

Best Regards,

Rory Groves
Founder & CEO
SWIFT Weather