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Xfinity ire: Comcast drops Weatherscan channel and triggers a hail storm

Comcast Corp. didn't give a reason but confirmed that it had dropped the Weatherscan channel. It tells subscribers to look for weather information on local television stations or the Weather Channel.

Archer Christiansen, 3, braces himself against wind and a breaking wave as he walks with his parents in a windstorm along the Puget Sound in Washington on Monday.
Archer Christiansen, 3, braces himself against wind and a breaking wave as he walks with his parents in a windstorm along the Puget Sound in Washington on Monday.Read more(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Xfinity subscribers are lighting up a Comcast message board over a decision to ax  the Weatherscan channel that offered continuous updates on local weather conditions — basics like temperature, barometric pressure, cloud cover, wind and humidity.

"Why on earth you would discontinue this channel is beyond me!!!  I use this numerous times daily!  The other options you offer, ie The Weather Channel, local on the 8's, and accessing from the main menu are not sufficient nor quick.  BRING IT BACK!!!!! I am more than upset!!!!!" wrote ann-t-m on an Xfinity forum.

Added crickets1: "Most of the weather apps frankly are garbage. I've found only 1 with good radar but it cost me $$ and eats up my battery. I've depended on Weatherscan for YEARS because 24/7 radar, which is extremely important. Three hours of animation is much much better than the few minutes tops you get from apps."

On Tuesday, Comcast Corp. didn't give a reason but confirmed that it had dropped the Weatherscan channel — which has been offered for many years — in a review of the channels in its bundle.

Comcast said in a statement on Tuesday that "we continuously evaluate the content we deliver to our Xfinity TV customers. As part of this ongoing evaluation, we determined that the Weatherscan channel will no longer be offered. Customers can find weather information on local channels or every 10 minutes via the Weather Channel."

Among those local television stations with weather is Comcast-owned NBC10.

Bart Meyers, a 61-year-old clothing salesman from Somerton, said on Tuesday he was checking Weatherscan on his cable-TV service before heading out the door in the morning so that he would know how to dress. He had used Weatherscan — channel 101 in his area — for at least a decade. Now "for some idiotic reason someone at Comcast decided to get rid of it," he groused.