patmac
join:2007-01-10
| Change In "Local" Weather From 2 Months Ago
We are in Dutchess County, NY, and have had the triple play for about two months. When we first got it, the "Local On The 8s" from channel 99, The Weather Channel, showed Wappingers Falls, NY as it should, in the past few weeks(not exactly sure of this date), it now shows New York City as "local".
Can I change this, or get it changed somehow?
Thanks |
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FMR VZMAN
| Did it ONLY show Wappingers Falls, or was that in a rotation with other NY Metro regions?
I would be very surprised if they added a new I-star to the Queens VHO (there are other VHOs with much worse weather-localization issues).
My guess is that Wappinger's was added to the overall rotation, and then dropped somehow, reverting the info back to the default (NYC).
Or, EVERYONE out of that VHO was getting Wappingers weather, which is also a mistake. |
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patmac
join:2007-01-10
| Sorry so long to get back. It never shows Wappingers Falls at all. We now get a Marine report, and a Long Island report ( I could see this if I had Cablevision lol ). We see Poughkeepsie ( north of us ) and the surrounding areas on maps, but no Local On The 8s weather for Wappingers AT all. Would even be worth calling them on this? Will I get someone that may possibly know what I'm talking about? Thanks for your time. |
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tylert120
join:2005-10-01
PennHills PA
 ·Verizon FIOS
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to patmac
Probably not worth calling Verizon over, most don't even know how the local weather is delivered to the VHOs (through TWC's IntelliStar).
Looking on Google Maps, Wappingers Falls is indeed a long way from NYC. But, what do you expect? Most Verizon headends are dealing with the same problem nationwide (too large of headends, too few of IntelliStars). They really need to add some.
I know someone at TWC. I can have them look into this, but like I said, unless Verizon is interested in adding an IntelliStar, don't expect much. Before I can contact them, I do need your local weather ID number, which shows occasionally on the lower display line (blue bar) during Local On the 8s. This number begins with a "2." For example, it might say "Local weather ID: 27542." Pay attention though, it only shows a few times, and it goes quick. |
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icemannyr1
join:2001-04-11
Township Of Washington, NJ | My best advice would be to post in the Verizon Direct forum.
Mention the change of location for your local forecast and ask them if it was a planned move of the location. |
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weather8s
@optonline.net | reply to patmac
honestly how different can the weather be in nyc and wppingers falls? |
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MrSpock29
join:2008-02-09
Hammonton, NJ
| said by weather8s :
honestly how different can the weather be in nyc and wppingers falls?
you would be surprised the changes that can occur in little distances, especially if terrain and elevation change. 10 or 15 miles here can be HUGE at times. |
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icemannyr1
join:2001-04-11
Township Of Washington, NJ
| reply to patmac
Right, just like for us in NJ.
It could be snowing here but raining in Newark.
No Newark is not super far away but still the weather is different there then here.
It would be nice if there were 3 WeatherStar computers so they could have one that's closer to NY State boarder. |
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cmthru
join:2005-03-19
Germantown, MD
edit:
July 6th, @10:58AM
| reply to patmac
I'm in central Maryland. Yet 95% of the weather data and local traffic reports are geared towards Northern Virginia.
Current 'local' weather conditions are given for Leesburg, Va (30 miles away), Fredericksburg, Va (75 miles away) and then Gaithersburg, Md (at least that's local). Local Verizon office says they don't control it and don't know who does. |
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GeekGirl1
The Medium IS the Message
Premium
join:2007-01-28
Morrisville, PA
·Verizon FIOS
·Verizon Online DSL
edit:
July 6th, @05:00PM
| It might be they are going by the NOAA jurisdictions. We just got some weather warnings for Sussex County DE, which is darn close to Baltimore MD. We haven't gotten those before, it's way south of Philly.
Click on a map location on the NOAA weather site ("National Weather Service Forecast Office") to see which office has jurisidiction. »www.erh.noaa.gov/phi/ Southern DE falls under the Philly / Mt. Holly NJ office and might explain the local warnings.
However, Wappingers Falls is attached to Albany NY. »forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.ph···ap.y=170. There goes that theory.  |
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FMR VZMAN
| The coverage area is purely a function of VZ's decision to only have one I-star per VHO. TWC gets daily complaints from FiOS subs, as does VZ management (Terry Denson's office ultimately gets them).
NOAA designations, TWC deliniations, county lines/state borders, etc have no bearing on the decision. VZ simply does not care to pursue having more accurate coverage.
Every place has local weather variances to some degree. In CA the difference between Riverside (near the VHO) and Ventura can be 40 degrees in the summer. TWC proposed between 6 and 22 I-stars. VZ decided 1 was sufficient. |
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TJM4
join:2008-04-26
Red Bank, NJ | reply to patmac
A little off topic, but I just read NBC Universal just agreed to buy The Weather Channel for 3.5 billion. Not sure it will have any bearing on the way we receive our weather updates, but I thought I would pass it along. |
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patmac
join:2007-01-10
| reply to patmac
Thanks to those who ADDED to this. The point is, when we first got the Triple Play, we had Wappingers Falls local weather, and now we don't. We have children that are outside alot during the summer and we need to know what to expect LOCALLY. One of them rows on the Hudson River and weather is very serious to that sport. What are "VHOs"? Home offices? And what about "I-star"? Thanks |
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FMR VZMAN
| Sorry if some of the terms are not clear. There are several other threads where the Weather deficiencies have been discussed and I assumed that most readers knew the terminology.
A VHO is a Video Hub Office. This is the central point from which your channels originate. For your area, this is in Queens, NY. At that site, all the national feeds, like CNN, HBO, etc. which come from satellite dish farms in both Tampa and Bloomington, IL, are mixed with local feeds like WCBS TV (CH2), PEGs etc. This is sent to your local Central Office, the last building before the fibers that go to your house.
At each VHO, Verizon has installed an "Intellistar" (aka I-star) which is a computer provided by The Weather Channel (TWC) which is programmed for that specific region, and overrides the national weather feed (which comes to the VHO like CNN or HBO) as necessary, either for "Local on the 8s" or for alerts.
When the Queens VHO was launched, we (I worked for VZ then) decided (in consultation with TWC) to have the center of the forecast area be Central Park, NY, since at the time, customers in Long Island and Rockland were being served from the Queens VHO - it seemed like a reasonable compromise.
However, we all recognized quickly that (I am a NY native) the weather on LI and Rockland could be very different, and this was not an optimal solution.
The only good solution, provided you want to get weather from TWC, is more Intellistars - dedicated for specific areas.
However, VZ management has determined that the complexity of installing multiple I-stars is not worth the effort.
I cannot explain (though I tried above) why you saw Wappingers weather on FiOS. I understand your frustration. If it is any consolation, customers all over the FiOS footprint have the same complaints, and TWC is constantly being asked to resolve the issue but is unable to convince VZ management to do so. |
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patmac
join:2007-01-10
| Thank you FMR VZMAN, exactly what I needed. I didn't reply sooner to this because I did not get a notification in my email that someone had replied to my thread, and, I see on the thread listings, I was the last one to reply. So you must have left VZ to join the digital covert OPs world? 
Thanks again for your info and time. |
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sepaguy
@dsl.net | reply to patmac
Just remember-- if you had Dish or Direct.. you'd have NO Local on the 8s AT ALL.. just a national feed! |
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robjlevin
join:2002-10-30
Millington, NJ
·Verizon FIOS
| Correct and it's the only thing I miss with DTV.
That said, I went from cable to FiOS to DTV. On cable we had a very local forecast from Morristown, NJ. FiOS gave us Newark, NJ which might just as well have been Newark, DE.
So I use weather.com now. |
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JeepMatt
Delaware Fios
Premium
join:2001-12-28
Wilmington, DE | reply to FMR VZMAN
said by FMR VZMAN :
TWC proposed between 6 and 22 I-stars. VZ decided 1 was sufficient.
Wow. Proposed 6 to 22 and VZ chose 1?? Nice.
--
"ONE team - ONE city - ONE dream!!" |
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FMR VZMAN
| Jeep - just to clarify.
When TWC launched on FiOS, there was no "local 8s" or Weatherscan. It was just like Dish/DTV's version of the weather - the national satellite-delivered feed only. They added 1 I-star per VHO to start, as this was a requirement of the contract.
The proposal for N number of additions in the CA VHO was after numerous complaints to VZ and to TWC directly, and a realization that the current setup is deficient.
However, they did not pursue any modification to the current situation, and do not plan to, as far as I know.
This effort was one of the (many) frustrations that lead me to becoming FMR. |
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tylert120
join:2005-10-01
PennHills PA | reply to patmac
So in other words, Verizon essentially just doesn't care, even though all these people are complaining? |
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