Fox Weather adds mobile weather ‘beasts’ for storm chasing

Fox Weather has unveiled a series of weather trucks dubbed the “Fox Weather Beasts,” with four planned for deployment.

Built on Ford F-250 chassis and designed for all weather conditions, the trucks include a 385 horsepower V8 engine, a two-inch body lift and rides on an upgraded suspension with 35-inch all-terrain tires.

The trucks were created by Accelerated Media Technologies, which has also delivered “quick response vehicles” with a full ENG reporting kit for Fox News.

Along with a KU Satellite uplink for reporting from remote or impacted areas and a Live U bonded cellular transmitter, the trucks include a roof-mounted FLIR PTZ Camera, 4K monitor and onboard Airmar mobile weather station which can measure temperature, humidity, dew point and wind speed.

Other features include an 8-kilowatt inverter and backup battery pack able to power the truck for 12 hours with the engine turned off.

On board, Marshall Electronics provides audio mixing with Blackmagic Design’s Smart VideoHub and SmartView provides video routing and monitoring.

Tom Jennings of AMT notes these are the most advanced weather trucks the company has developed.

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Two of the “beasts” will be stationed in Nashville with one in Miami and another in Atlanta. Interestingly, two of those markets do not feature a Fox-owned station to serve as a base — with WAGA in Atlanta being owned by the network.