Weather.com/Retro

4/2/2026 at 3:18:43 AM

This appears to be a fairly low effort simulation of a WeatherStar 4000, but it's been done much better by someone else here: https://weatherstar.netbymatt.com/

Also for those of us like me who grew up with a cable provider that still ran the old WeatherStar III, there's this one: https://weatherstar3000.netbymatt.com/

by wolrah

4/2/2026 at 4:52:41 AM

This may be an age or geography thing, but Weather.com/Retro looks a lot more like the weather channels I remember than either of your two links.

I don't think they were trying to recreate the thing you were expecting, but it seems a little harsh to call it low effort. It's neat! A fun little nod to their history.

by troad

4/2/2026 at 7:40:14 AM

As others have stated, no, this isn't a simulation of WeatherStar. It does, however, look exactly like the weather channel did when I was a kid. (New Jersey and Maryland, in the 80s and 90s)

by kelnos

4/2/2026 at 5:01:52 AM

The blurring/low quality effect in the weather.com version is so much convincing, it feels like watching it through a CRT tv

by Implement7347

4/2/2026 at 9:30:22 AM

weather.com/retro adjusted to my location based on ip. The one you linked does not allow non-US locations.

by Levitating

4/2/2026 at 9:39:08 AM

Edit: deleted, someone already mention non-US locations not working

by jamesbfb

4/2/2026 at 3:19:49 AM

The one you posted works only for americans

by efilife

4/2/2026 at 4:22:20 AM

Because, IIRC (it has been a while since I’ve looked at the code) it grabs weather from the US National Weather Service… which is also a primary source of data for the original WeatherStar.

It’s useful for this purpose because all of the data is in the same format as the original down to the different forecast types and phrasing used

by kube-system

4/2/2026 at 3:24:42 AM

Were the real things ever available outside of America?

Either way, thanks to the wonders of open source here's a fork that works for other parts of the world: https://mwood77.github.io/ws4kp-international/

by wolrah

4/2/2026 at 3:59:24 AM

Got really confused why is my WinAmp was double decked there.

Thanks!

by justsomehnguy

4/2/2026 at 3:51:51 AM

This is pretty neat. I think I probably get this transmission on Infochammel.

by Waterluvian

4/2/2026 at 4:23:11 AM

that one doesn't put my laptop to aspirate and it;s fast

by kelvinjps10

4/2/2026 at 3:49:10 AM

Ughhhh snow storm tomorrow

by zoklet-enjoyer

4/2/2026 at 4:28:52 AM

I love how it's built. How they did the blurring and filter stacking. I assumed the whole thing was being streamed in as video.

Good job Weather Channel dev. I just wish it would loop forever. Make a loop checkbox at the start screen.

Also the music slaps.

by sigspec

4/2/2026 at 5:21:37 AM

I agree. It's really cool. I wonder if this was written with AI assistance. Seems like the perfect kind of fun project that a dev team would really be able to crank out pretty quickly whereas five years ago, there might not have been time or budget for something like this.

by deepfriedbits

4/2/2026 at 10:12:00 AM

This is really cool. But showing Fahrenheit, despite everything else is perfectly localized, for my home town Hamburg in Germany, is somewhat useless. Guys from the US, we use Celcius here! :-P

by Aldipower

4/2/2026 at 10:14:24 AM

you can change the unit in settings, just click the gear on countdown page

by leemartin

4/2/2026 at 10:17:46 AM

Ah, nice, thank you very much. But it is impossible to reach the countdown page once you are in. So it is almost impossible to make the switch, because you notice the Fahrenheit thing only if it is too late. And it looses the setting after a reload..

by Aldipower

4/2/2026 at 5:34:54 AM

It's nearly perfect. My only complaint is I wish it would keep playing on repeat, and rotate through more smooth jazz. Then I could have this on a screen in my living room, fall asleep on my couch in a snuggie, and wake up to its garish light and jazz at 3am just like old times

by jameslk

4/2/2026 at 8:23:10 AM

"This content is no longer available in your area"

What kind of sensitive thing is there that the page must be region-restricted?

by leduyquang753

4/2/2026 at 10:39:07 AM

As we get set to leave NATO, we are taking all our toys with us. No more weather for you.

by tclancy

4/2/2026 at 8:36:34 AM

Looks awesome, if only it used correct units.

by odiroot

4/2/2026 at 8:50:44 AM

You can change the units in the settings, accessible from the start screen

by gHA5

4/2/2026 at 3:17:28 AM

Don’t miss the unmute icon in the lower right (at least on my browser).

by altairprime

4/2/2026 at 7:16:30 AM

But once you unmute, there is no way back...

by pan69

4/2/2026 at 8:14:32 AM

Once you unmute, your browser should display a speaker icon for that tab, which you can use to mute the tab again.

by imp0cat

4/2/2026 at 9:19:15 AM

Awesome, nice retro vibe. I used to build these channels back in the day in Scala Info channel (narrowcasting) for hospitals and radio stations etc. Would love to see a metric switch to C en km/h

by marald

4/2/2026 at 9:47:42 AM

> Would love to see a metric switch to C en km/h

You can change the units and location by clicking the gear icon next to the city on the screen it shows in between broadcasts.

by sp0rk

4/2/2026 at 10:12:57 AM

Ah, that old soft jazz...

by swiftcoder

4/2/2026 at 4:27:49 AM

why do i love this so much? nostalgia hitting hard these days.

by scottrogers86

4/2/2026 at 4:12:50 AM

Looks great on mobile in portrait mode. Bonus points for the audio.

by netghost

4/2/2026 at 4:56:23 AM

So good. That music had me relaxing for 5' straight.

by keyle

4/2/2026 at 4:16:13 AM

Well done. Added to my home screen. Imagine a daily smooth jazz weather report will soothe the soul nicely.

by rglover

4/2/2026 at 10:00:15 AM

weather on the 8s

by markm248

4/2/2026 at 4:12:05 AM

This is so much better than their actual website.

by mrcwinn

4/2/2026 at 3:40:41 AM

perfect to throw on a mini crt looking screen in the kitchen

by neko_ranger

4/2/2026 at 5:25:46 AM

Music is so relaxing.

by HariPavan

4/2/2026 at 9:03:32 AM

looks cool

by lazydays

4/2/2026 at 4:52:05 AM

Now we just need gen AI weatherwoman with a really really bad bluescreen and have her show the 3d map rotating around randomly toward cities.

by saltyoldman