WeatherStar III (now calls it WeatherStar 3000 because of the introduction of the WeatherStar 4000) was an enhanced version the previous WeatherStar model, the WeatherStar II. At that time of it's deployment the FCC began a plan to create more room for geosynchronous satellites, thus The Weather Channel needed to change the way their current WeatherStar were receiving data. It first appeared in 1986.