"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
"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
"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
"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
"I'm sure that I don't have to tell you that your product blows doors on competing products in the areas of detail, resolution, customization and the overall user-friendly GUI. It is also a VERY nice product for those who have an interest in amateur meteorology and who assist civil agencies as field spotters to augment their real-time information and conditions gathering."
Mark Quinlisk
Colorado Springs, Colorado
"I finally downloaded Weather Defender for the first time, and it didn't take more than 30 minutes to decide to sign up for a subscription. I've used most of the weather programs and sites out there and this one is the best. I'm really enjoying it. I would recommend it to anyone."
Verna Young
Monterey, California
"I concur with these testimonials. this year has been the exception as opposed to the norm with respect to weather in Kentucky. When weather events affecting public welfare have occurred they have been on the extreme side whether flooding in August and September or just the past week an EF 2 tornado in Casey County. Weather Defender has been an invaluable resource in bringing all aspects of the dynamic weather picture together to present an ongoing assessment of potentially dangerous weather situations."
Chuck Danison
Shelbyville, Kentucky
"We've had 2 tornadoes near Perryville in the last 3-4 years that have impacted many people we've known. This includes killing 2 people that my wife and I both worked with for many years.... [in another situation] the grandmother of a friend of mine was living in a town that I could see was in the path of a tornado I was tracking in the Weather Defender (confirmed by Local Storm Reports). She lived in a trailer and was not in an area where sirens were sounded or could be heard. I called my friend and told her that a tornado was headed for the area in which her grandmother lived and she called her grandmother. She was able to get out of the trailer and to a safer location. Fortunately, the tornado was not on the ground long enough to get to her place, but my call was 15-20 minutes before it would've gotten there. Fifteen to twenty minutes may not sound like much, but it can mean the difference between life and death when a tornado is in the area. They were very grateful for my call.
Jamie Robinson
Perryville, Missouri
"All I can say about the new Weather Defender by SWIFT Weather is WOW! Finally a weather software application that meets the needs of public safety and Skywarn spotters. I was shocked at the ease of the program and the timeliness of the data displayed on our computer monitor. I was also happy to see us get nice timely data at such a competitive price point especially during these times when our budgets are limited for new operational tools. No Emergency Manager or Skywarn spotter should do without the new Weather Defender."
Tony Mondaro - N2HWC
Deputy Coordinator
Hudson County Emergency Management
Harrison, New Jersey
"Our clients depend on us to provide high quality forecasting and advanced notification of severe weather. We use the Alert Perimeters feature in Weather Defender to help keep our forecasters attuned to weather hazards which may affect our clients."
Todd Frostad
President/COO
WeatherNation LLC
Excelsior, Minnesota