Hire a private meteorologist for your business

What a private meteorologist does for a business

Public forecasts are written for everyone, which is why they are free and why they cannot know that your crew needs a four-hour dry window or that your lot has to be clear by 7 a.m. A private meteorologist works from your decisions. At WDS that looks like this:

• Daily and event briefings. A morning briefing, plus updates when the weather story changes, so you get the bottom line without rebuilding it yourself.
• Site forecasts and alerts. Forecasts for the places you operate, and alerts for lightning, wind, severe weather, icing and heat tied to what your team should do next.
• A forecaster you can reach. Message the forecast desk inside the portal, with human review before critical guidance goes out. During severe events, an on-call meteorologist is available by phone.
• Records for contracts and disputes. Certified snow reports after measurable snowfall for covered sites, and forensic weather reports for any US address over the last 10 years, signed by a degreed meteorologist.
• Seasonal planning. A site-specific winter forecast, from $199 per site, for staffing, salt and pretreatment planning.
• Custom analysis. WDS can scope analysis around weather-sensitive demand, staffing, inventory or revenue questions, with the data, methods and deliverables agreed for your operation.

When hiring one is worth it

A private meteorologist pays off when weather changes a decision with money, safety or customers behind it, and when you make that decision often enough to need a consistent answer. Typical signs: you dispatch crews or equipment on the forecast, you run venues or events with a crowd to protect, you pour concrete or lift steel on a schedule, or you need records that hold up when a customer or an insurer disputes what the weather did.

Here is a simple test. Twelve months at the $499 starting price is $5,988. If one avoided wrong call a year would cover that, a private meteorologist is worth a demo. If weather rarely changes what you do, or a wrong call costs little, the free forecasts from the National Weather Service are good and you can skip this.

How WDS works

Solutions, not just forecasts. We bring seasoned meteorologists, the 4070 platform, and battle tested operators together as one team. The 4070 platform helps us move fast, but people still own the judgment. That matters when the models disagree, the timing shifts, or the decision has real money, safety, or customers behind it.

1. Demo. We walk through the next weather-sensitive decision your team is likely to face, using your kind of site.
2. Scope. WDS scopes briefings, site coverage, reports and support around your business service agreement.
3. Set up. The platform tracks your sites, thresholds and operating rules, and your team chooses the locations and alert types it follows.
4. Run. Daily briefings, alerts and the forecast desk work alongside your team through the season, with escalation to a meteorologist when it matters. See the 4070 portal for business for the views your team will use.

Who we work with

WDS builds business weather service for landscaping, snow and ice, sports teams, construction, outdoor events, airports, utilities, agriculture and other weather-sensitive operations. Each solutions page describes the decisions we support in that industry.

What it costs

WDS business plans start at $499 per month and are quoted after a demo, because they are scoped to your sites and products. The site-specific winter forecast has published pricing from $199 per site. Forensic weather reports are quoted per request. If you only need a past snowfall total at an address, Free Snow Report gives three free verified reports per verified email.

Questions to ask any weather consultant

Use these with us and with anyone else you are considering.

• Who is the forecaster, and what are their qualifications?
• When can I reach them, and how fast do they answer?
• Do they know my sites, thresholds and decisions, or do they send everyone the same forecast?
• Will they tell me how confident they are, and tell me when they change their mind?
• What records do I get for contracts, claims and disputes?
• What does it cost, and what is included?

Frequently asked questions