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The Weather Channel Introduces the Gametime Weather Index, Tracking Weather Impact on Upcoming Football Matchups


WEBWIRE

New Index Will Track Weather’s Potential Role As The “12th Man” for the Weekend’s College and Pro Football Games

The Weather Channel® today announced the creation of the Gametime Weather Index, a weekly report issued every Thursday during football season that will track the potential impact of weather on upcoming college and professional matchups. The Gametime Weather Index will be featured on air on The Weather Channel (TWC) beginning Thursday during Weather Center at 7 p.m. and online at weather.com.

The expert TWC meteorology team will develop each week’s Gametime Weather Index and update it throughout the weekend during live programming and live reports from the site of an upcoming game. The index is based on forecast conditions for the game on the field and the weather’s potential to affect game play. Using a scale from 1 to 10, the index assigns a 10 for typically “perfect” weather and a 1 for awful weather -- think 38 degrees, rain and high winds.

To provide further insight into the weekend’s games, The Weather Channel will be live each week from an important matchup. This week, meteorologist Adam Berg will report live Friday and Saturday from Gainesville, FL, where Tennessee takes on number-one ranked Florida.

For the weekend of Sept. 19-21, games tracked by TWC’s Gametime Weather Index include:

* Tennessee Volunteers at (#1) Florida Gators
Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, Ben Hill Griffin Stadium, Gainesville, FL
Gametime Weather Index: 8 - Factors: Heat, humidity, thunderstorm risk
Typical Florida heat, humidity and a risk of thunderstorms will be in play for this conference matchup. Kickoff temperatures should settle in the mid to upper 80s. Bring rain gear to this one, just in case.

* Texas Tech Red Raiders at (#2) Texas Longhorns
Saturday, 8 p.m. ET, Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium, Austin, TX.
Gametime Weather Index: 9 - Factors: Small thunderstorm threat
Longhorn fans will hope to avenge last year’s loss to the Red Raiders with kickoff temperatures in the low 80s. Compared to the torrid summer of 2009 in Texas, temperatures should be tolerable. Only a slight chance of showers or thunderstorms - not the recent heavy rainfall - could derail what should be an exciting game.

* (#19) Nebraska Cornhuskers at (#13) Virginia Tech Hokies
Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, Lane Stadium, Blacksburg, VA
Gametime Weather Index: 6 - Factors: Light rain/drizzle possible
Weather could affect Saturday’s only matchup between two Top-25 teams. TWC will watch closely an area of rain and thunderstorms that looks to continue soaking much of the Tennessee Valley and the Southeast Saturday. If this pushes far enough north to reach Blacksburg, light rain and drizzle would make the field slick and may affect the ability to hold onto the football.

* Florida State Seminoles at (#7) BYU Cougars
Saturday, 7 p.m. ET, LaVell Edwards Stadium, Provo, UT.
Gametime Weather Index: 9 - Factors: Small thunder shower chance
Not quite “perfect” weather, due to a small chance (20% or less) of a brief thunder shower. Temperatures should remain a bit warm for the time of year, but will come with the tolerable humidity one benefits from living in the shadow of the Wasatch.

* (#3) USC Trojans at Washington Huskies
Saturday, 3:30 p.m. ET, Husky Stadium, Seattle, WA
Gametime Weather Index: 4 - Factors: morning rain, lingering game rain
A possible frontal system sliding into the Pacific Northwest sometime late Friday or early Saturday could bring rain to the Seattle metro area. While precipitation may end in time for kickoff, any residual rain may create a wet field. If rain falls during the game, players will have issues keeping the football dry, holding onto the ball, slipping on the field and more.

For more in-depth forecasting, TWC meteorologists will be available Thursday and Friday to provide insight into these and other games. In addition, look to weather.com for in-depth forecasts on all of this weekend’s games.

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About The Weather Channel Companies
The Weather Channel Companies (TWCC) is made up of The Weather Channel Network (TWCN), The Weather Channel Interactive (TWCi), and Weather Services International (WSI). The Weather Channel® is based in Atlanta and is seen in more than 98 million U.S. households. TWCN also operates Weatherscan, a 24-hour all-local weather network; The Weather Channel Radio Network; and The Weather Channel HD. TWCi, which includes the weather.com® site, The Weather Channel Desktop and The Weather Channel Mobile, reaches more than 40 million unique users online each month and is the most popular source of online weather, news and information according to Nielsen//NetRatings. WSI, headquartered in Andover, MA, primarily provides business-to-business weather services, particularly for the media, aviation, marine and energy sectors. TWCC is owned by a consortium made up of NBC Universal and the private equity firms The Blackstone Group and Bain Capital. For more information, visit www.weather.com/press.



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