This milestone is the culmination of more than nine consecutive months in which AWS WeatherBug has been listed as the "stickiest" weather site on the Web. Stickiness is a consumer loyalty indicator based on repeat visits and time spent by visitors to a given website. In June, WeatherBug.com and its five million loyal users dominated the weather category with more than 90 minutes per person, vs. Weather.com with 13 minutes per user. Among all top 40 sites (by page views), WeatherBug rated 6th in total visits per person with 12, just ahead of AOL.com, which averaged 11 visits per person.

"We are absolutely thrilled with the stable growth of AWS WeatherBug," said AWS President and CEO, Bob Marshall. "Achieving this status in such a short amount of time confirms that people want accurate, live, local weather from their neighborhoods on demand … not hour-old conditions from the airport, which everyone else provides."

Recent research by Frank N. Magid Associates, Inc. substantiates the popularity of live, local weather when they found that 72% of people prefer getting weather conditions from weather monitoring equipment positioned at school buildings, compared to only 18% who preferred weather data from airports. AWS' weather reporting network is located almost entirely at schools in the heart of more than 5,000 neighborhoods across the country. Launched in 1992, this proprietary network is more than triple the size of any other weather network in the world. From 1993 to 2000, only licensed broadcast TV meteorologists had full access to the AWS weather network. With the launch of AWS WeatherBug in April of 2000, AWS opened up its network to the world.

How it works: After downloading and installing AWS WeatherBug (from http://www.weatherbug.com), people see live temperature from their zip code next to the clock in the Windows™ system tray of their computer. Clicking the temperature icon triggers a live-streaming neighborhood-level weather report, forecasts, radar, travel weather, live camera pictures and a wealth of other tools and weather information. As severe weather bulletins are issued, AWS WeatherBug blinks and chirps to notify people at their PC.

In a recent meeting with AWS, the National Weather Service indicated that AWS WeatherBug likely notifies more people with online severe weather alerts than any other organization. Sponsors support the cost of providing this free public service. To ensure sponsor dollars pay off, AWS developed a new form of interactive advertising, called a "Brand WrapTM." With a "Wrap", all weather data is placed inside of the actual advertisement. More than 90% of AWS WeatherBug users surveyed say they like this clever mix of weather information and advertising, and appreciate the sponsors for making AWS WeatherBug a free service. Major companies have successfully employed Wraps with AWS. Among them: Verizon, Disney, American Express, Sprint, Nextel and Mercedes Benz.

Founded in 1993, AWS Convergence Technologies, Inc. unites the world's largest weather network with the power of the Web, 100 broadcast television stations, 5,000 schools, and 5,000,000 direct customers, to deliver real-time weather data to local communities via television newscasts and AWS WeatherBug. AWS is the Internet's only source for live neighborhood conditions, forecasts and storm warnings. Earlier this year, Media Metrix reported AWS WeatherBug as the fastest growing website in the world.

AWS WeatherBug is a free download at http://www.weatherbug.com.

Click here to download this press release