The forces of nature manipulate our weather patterns from day to day, season to season and year to year. Shifts in temperature, precipitation, wind and overall conditions are inevitable and beyond our control. But at Wilkens Weather Technologies, clients turn to their meteorologists not only because the weather changes, but also because they provide stability, precision and consistency in service. On April 12, 1997, Wilkens Weather Technologies (WWT) will celebrate their 20th anniversary, two decades of anticipating weather movements and helping companies that depend on accurate forecasting, succeed in business.

Taking the entrepreneurial leap was a natural decision for Richard Wilkens, President and Certified Consulting Meteorologist. Intending to concentrate on weather forecasting for energy-related industries, he grew the company carefully with his wife Sandy by his side. For a two-team crew, handling a 24-hour operation was no easy task. "It was kind of scary at first, but we knew we understood the business, and we believed we had a great product," Sandy Wilkens explained.

The Wilkens’ maintained the company on a tight budget and slowly added meteorologists to the staff. While the business required a lot of energy, motivation and patience, confidence and a quality product turned WWT into a thriving business.

"In the beginning, we had a forecast that we had to send out to Malaysia twice a day, once in the early afternoon and again around midnight," Richard remembered. "I’d do the forecast in the afternoon, then I’d come back to the office at midnight, then back again at 4:00 in the morning. We all went through some rough times for awhile!"

Determination kept Richard and Sandy going strong. By the end of the first year, they had three staff members and 30 clients. From forecasts in Malaysia, the United States, Caribbean and Strait of Magellan, this start-up was quickly gaining momentum.

Hurricane Alicia certainly tops the list of memorable stories over the years. Before the hurricane hit the Houston area, Wilkens had decided that the storm would likely cause power failure in the office, but the building did not have a back-up generator. "By 6:00 in the evening, we had located a diesel generator, had it delivered and set in the parking space directly underneath our office," Richard explained. "We were in our old Richmond Avenue office and only on the second floor, so we ran these huge power cords from the generator, up the stairway and into our office."

Sure enough by 2:00 am, the lights went out and the staff immediately started the generator. They lost power for 10 minutes, while the competitors lost power for up to three days.

In addition to preparing for the worst, Richard and his crew also made early predictions about Hurricane Alicia that other weather services did not. Richard said, "While making the decision on the generator, we had also decided Alicia would hit us rather than going father west, which all the National Weather Service models were predicting. We scrambled to contact our customers."

Wilkens Weather meteorologists also accurately predicted the direct hit of Hurricane Emily on Bermuda in September 1987. WWT was providing forecasts to the Civil Aviation section of the Transport Ministry on an ad hoc basis, but when Wilkens’ forecast conflicted with reports from the U.S. Naval Air Station and National Hurricane Center, the Government of Bermuda took notice. The result was the government’s decision to purchase forecasts from WWT as a back up to the services already being received.

In 1983, WWT merged with Air Routing International, a company providing flight services to the corporate aviation industry. Later, in 1994 WWT became a member of the AR Group. Both of these associations supplied WWT with a strong, international support mechanism and a link to a wide range of technological and financial resources.

Today, over 20 people make up the WWT staff. Advancements in technology have enhanced products and services, decreasing forecasting time while increasing reliability. Use of Teletype is long gone with the arrival of the computer and AiRMET III, WWT’s weather information and graphics software, which generates and distributes more information in a much more efficient manner. Immediate plans for the future call for more client interaction with the Internet and personalized service pages.

After 20 years, everything seems to have changed at Wilkens Weather Technologies, except for one thing—service. "Our commitment is to take the high level of expertise and experience we have here and provide our clients with the best weather support for their individualized requirements."

John Lynn, vice president, adds to this point, "Over the years our drive at Wilkens Weather has been the same, to please the client. We know they’re number one; they are the reason we are here and we haven’t lost that vision."

That vision has taken Wilkens Weather Technologies into other industries, such as the print media, film production, radio broadcasting, construction, agri-business and law. That vision has brought a team of highly skilled meteorologists together. That vision keeps the team producing accurate forecasts. That vision ultimately helps companies that rely on the weather flourish in their own business.

Twenty years is a major milestone, a cause for celebration. Richard Wilkens, his meteorology team and support staff thank those of you who have contributed to the company’s growth and prosperity. The next 20 years promises continued excitement, progress and precision—stay tuned!