We’re Addicted to This Gloriously Retro Digital Weather Channel

In the days of yore—the 1990s—there were no smartphone apps providing real-time, on-the-spot weather updates. People actually had to turn their TVs on, flip to The Weather Channel, and wait for the cycle of forecasts to show the conditions in their city.

It was a simpler time filled with ambient smooth jazz and teletext. If you just breathed a heavy sigh of longing, boy do I have news for you. Behold WeatherStar 4000+, a web recreation of The Weather Channel’s 90s aesthetic—jazz and all. Built by programmer Matt Walsh, the website provides accurate weather forecasts for any location you type into the search bar.

The project is based on the work of software engineer Mike Battaglia, who created the code that draws the weather displays as well as the background graphics and maps. Walsh’s iteration is accessible via a web browser or installable on your computer.

A brief history of WeatherStar

The site gets its name from the original WeatherStar 4000, the first graphical weather information system for cable television. The Weather Channel developed and produced this iteration of its WeatherStar system in 1990, then retired it in 2014 along with the broadcast of its analog satellite feed.

For decades, the WeatherStar system allowed The Weather Channel to receive, generate, and transmit local forecast information based on where viewers live. The “Star†part of the name is short for Satellite Transponder Addressable Receiver, describing the method by which the system receives weather data and commands in the field via satellite.

The technology was composed of a computer unit installed in a cable system’s central broadcasting facility, or “headend.†Intellistar—the system that The Weather Channel relies on today—is similar to WeatherStar in the sense that it receives data over a satellite connection and over the internet, but it can receive more complex information more efficiently.

The OG WeatherStar4000, but better

Walsh created WeatherStar4000+ purely for the sake of nostalgia. “​​This is by no means intended to be a perfect emulation of the WeatherStar 4000, the hardware that produced those wonderful blue and orange graphics you saw during the local forecast on The Weather Channel,†Walsh explains on the project’s GitHub page. “Instead, this project intends to create a simple to use interface with minimal configuration fuss.â€

WeatherStar 4000+ runs on the National Weather Service’s open-source meteorological data. Walsh’s simulation includes a number of modifications to both the original hardware unit and Battaglia’s code, such as an hourly forecast display and a graph of the temperature, cloud cover, and precipitation chances.

Walsh advises against relying on WeatherStar4000+ during life-threatening weather situations, but on the average day, those yearning for the heyday of cable television can use this site to scratch that itch and access accurate forecast information.