CustomWeather, a leading global supplier of syndicated weather data, has launched its geo-coded Severe Weather Alerts service. “Now, for the first time, alerts from the U. S. National Weather Service are available as a real-time, geo-coded XML data feed,” the company announcement said.

The severe weather information includes all weather-related warnings, watches, advisories, and statements issued by the U.S. National Weather Service for any one of more than 26,000 specific locations within the United States and Puerto Rico.

“It?fs important to understand that we aren`t just re-transmitting severe weather alerts from the National Weather Service,” said Geoff Flint, CEO of CustomWeather. “Lots of weather companies do that. Rather, we are sending out real-time, geo-coded alerts that can be easily filtered down to specific geographic regions and user groups.”

Flint said his company`s Severe Weather Alert Service is the only severe weather alert system that can be transferred into SMS and other wireless services in a user-specific, location-based manner.

“CustomWeather is the only company to offer National Weather Service alerts in an XML format,” he said. “We have provided a location-based service for the transmittal of alerts in a format that is very suitable for wireless and web-based companies. With our Severe Weather Alerts, our clients can offer their customers complete weather information in the palm of their hand, or on their PC, even in the dashboard of their car.”

Two weeks ago, Galileo International, a leading provider of electronic global distribution services (GDS) for the travel industry, announced that it had deployed CustomWeather for travel agencies and travelers to receive weather forecast data related to their travel plans.

Galileo?fs travel agency customers and travelers who use Galileo ViewTrip, Galileo e-Agent, Galileo Wireless, and Corporate Travelpoint 2.0 have immediate access to CustomWeather information.

“Galileo recognizes that timely and accurate weather data is central to making appropriate travel plans, enabling travelers to pack for the current and expected weather conditions,” said Galileo?fs Jenny Dressler, vice president, Product Prioritization and Management. “By partnering with CustomWeather, we are able to bring travel agents and travelers the most precise weather information available.”

In the future, Galileo`s management said the company expects to add more specialized information from CustomWeather, such as ski reports and other leisure-related weather information. In addition, a mapping feature will soon be available to users, allowing them to obtain weather information based on graphical data such as Doppler Radar maps, as well as text data

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