Tracking Weather for Montgomery County, Pennsylvania From TWC Archive Jump to navigationJump to search IntelliStar IntelliStar Logo.png WATT Local on the 8s Intellistar.png Domestic IntelliStar, final design Weatherscan Screenshot.png Weatherscan IntelliStar, final design Manufacturer: Wind River Family: Weather Star Hardware: Intel x86 OS: FreeBSD Graphics: Custom OpenGL Renderer Release date: Domestic: Beta: 3Q 2003 Final: 1Q 2004 Weatherscan: Beta: February 2003 Final: September 2003 Status: Domestic: Retired - Decommissioned by The Weather Channel on November 16, 2015. Weatherscan: Retired - Decommissioned by The Weather Channel on December 12, 2022.[1] Preceded By: Weather Star XL Succeeded by: IntelliStar 2 XD & IntelliStar 2 Jr. The IntelliStar (stylized as IS1) was the fifth-generation successor to the Weather Star systems used by The Weather Channel (TWC). Like the Weather Star, it was installed at the cable provider's headend. It was used to display local weather information over the video feed of The Weather Channel until 2015 and remained in use for the channel's sister network, Weatherscan, until 2022. The IntelliStar had many enhanced features over its predecessor, the Weather Star XL. Like all other Weather Star systems, the IntelliStar received its data over a satellite connection. However, unlike the rest of the systems, it had the capability to receive more complex information in a more efficient manner. Domestic IntelliStar units – those used for The Weather Channel proper instead of Weatherscan – also had a Dual Feed feature, which gave the IntelliStar the ability to switch to a secondary network feed providing local, regional or national coverage from TWC. This feature was widely used during severe weather events, as it allowed The Weather Channel to provide localized weather coverage to specific IntelliStar units in affected areas. It also had an improved graphics display and dynamic radar capabilities. HiRAD (High Resolution Aggregated Data) technology – which was added to the IntelliStar in 2006 – allowed The Weather Channel to choose any city, town or landmark as an observation or forecast site and provide data. Occasionally, the HiRAD function would fail, in which case the National Weather Service sites were used (only the current conditions – and previously, the eight-city product and regional/metro products – are affected significantly). In May 2015, it was announced that domestic IntelliStar units would be replaced with either the IntelliStar 2 xD or the IntelliStar 2 Jr. by October 1, 2015. The IntelliStar as used for The Weather Channel proper was discontinued on November 16, 2015.[2] A small number of IntelliStar units used for the Weatherscan network remained in service but were eventually retired on December 12, 2022.[3]