One of the main information arteries of the weather world is nestled in the heart of Happy Valley.

Accu-Weather, Inc., supplies weather forecasts to all areas of the world from its office in State College.

Not only is Accu-Weather located here, it was founded here in 1962. Joel Myers, University graduate and founder of Accu-Weather, started selling winter forecasts to a natural gas company and a ski resort while he was a graduate student.

"I saw it as an opportunity to earn some money and provide a service," said Myers, president of Accu-Weather and a member of the University's Board of Trustees. "I thought there was a place for accurate forecasting."

Elliot Abrams, senior vice president of Accu-Weather who got his start forecasting for The Daily Collegian, said Myers recruited bright meteorology graduates and Accu-Weather was born.

Jim Candor, expert senior forecaster for Accu-Weather, said today this cottage industry employs 175-200 employees, including about 70 meteorologists.

Myers said the majority of employees are Penn State graduates.

Accu-Weather has had 27 continuous years of growth, he said, citing innovative management, team work, proprietary techniques and talented employees as central reasons for their success.

Candor said because of its growth, Accu-Weather may soon have to move to a more spacious location in State College.

"We are the largest and most successful private weather service in the world," Myers said.

Everything from television to the Associated Press to school districts to trucking companies uses Accu-Weather forecasts, Candor said.

Myers said Accu-Weather also supplies forecasts for Reuters press service, which is one of the world's largest press services, supplying 140,000 terminals all over the world including ones in Moscow and Beijing.

Abrams stressed the importance of forecasting in little-known areas of daily life. New York citizens would lose about 2.5 million dollars if the city's forecast is wrong and the subway lines freeze up, he said. He also added utility companies depend on weather forecasts to approximate needed electricity, and flower companies need forecasts to decide whether flowers will need protection during shipping.

"We have a great variety of clients we serve, and we have to be cognizant of their needs," Abrams said.

The University is also a client, Abrams said. Accu-Weather provides forecasts which are helpful in planning for outdoor events and predicting ground conditions.

Candor said they receive weather data from outside sources such as the federal government and often from the clients they serve. They also receive information from satellites.

The information never stops coming. It continues 24-hours a day, seven days a week, Abrams said.

Information comes to the office from satellites and gets processed through Teletypes and computers. From the computer display, Accu-Weather can then forecast for anywhere in the world, Abrams said.

Accu-Weather is not the only private weather forecasting company. However, according to Candor, "We're the biggest."

"We think we forecast more accurately. We try to tailor the forecast to the client," he said. "We have more flexibility."

Abrams also added on average days most forecasting companies are a lot alike, "But when the weather is really newsworthy, that's when we really shine."

The company was not the first one of its kind, but Candor said Accu-Weather has make more inroads into different areas.

"Accu-Weather has spearheaded that," he said, adding they were one of the first to expand into newspapers, eventually doing full-page weather pages for USA Today.

According to Myers, Accu-Weather has expanded from seasonal forecasting to radio and television,and eventually into newspapers. He said that eventually ready-for-use graphics and an on-line data base were added.