Weather Central Brings Severe Weather and Hail Alerts to Progressive® Insurance

MADISON, Wis., July 25, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Weather Central, a global provider of enterprise weather solutions and forecasting, today announced an agreement with Progressive® Insurance that will leverage the company's Live:Wire® HailZone™ data and radar analytics to provide advanced warning of severe hailstorms to drivers who sign up at www.progressive.com/weatheralerts. With this industry-first hail forecast service, consumers will be able to personalize locations of interest – such as a home, office or child's school – and receive automatic alerts via text message up to thirty minutes before hailstorms, high winds, or other severe weather hits their area, giving motorists the time they need  to get themselves and their property to safety. The service also delivers National Weather Service watches and warnings.

"Weather Central's highly-precise weather data has nearly unlimited applications, and we are pleased to be leading the charge with Progressive in order to bring our technology to bear for the insurance industry," said Steve Smedberg, Senior Vice President – Enterprise, Weather Central. "Severe hail damage costs policyholders and insurers over $1 billion in damages every year. We set out to provide Progressive with life- and money-saving information that comes right to consumers when they need it most, and we've done just that with this partnership."

Progressive Severe Weather Alerts are powered by Weather Central's Live:Wire® Alerts platform and trusted HailZone™ data that is precise to an industry-leading 1km-wide area. Precise warning zone alerting assures that only policyholders in the path of the storm will receive alerts, greatly reducing false alarms associated with county-based warnings.

Anyone interested in signing up for the alerts can do so at www.progressive.com/weatheralerts.

About MyWeather & Weather Central, LP

MyWeather was created by Weather Central, LP (WXC.com), to provide consumers with personalized, precise, portable weather data and graphics online and on mobile devices. Weather Central, founded in 1974 by broadcasters and meteorologists based in Madison, Wisconsin, is the leading provider of professional on-air, online, print, mobile, and enterprise weather solutions and forecasting in North America and to major customers worldwide. Utilizing the company's dynamic weather graphics, precise forecast models and data, and patented technology, more than 1000 partners and hundreds of millions of consumers worldwide benefit from Weather Central's attention to weather presentation, detail and insight. For more information please visit MyWeather.com, like facebook.com/myweather, watch youtube.com/myweather and follow @myweather.

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SOURCE Weather Central