System and method for weather adapted, business performance forecasting

Claim 1

A system for forecasting business performance, comprising: a storage device storing a business history database, a weather history database, and a weather forecast database; an analyzer to determine the extent to which past business performance of a plurality of business units at a plurality of locations was affected by weather using said business history database and said weather history database; a configurator, coupled to said analyzer, to estimate expected future business performance of said business units at said locations for a plurality of future time periods using said weather forecast database and results produced by said analyzer; and a graphical user interface, coupled to said analyzer and said configurator, to enable users to view and manipulate results produced by said analyzer and said configurator to thereby forecast future business performance of said business units at said locations, wherein said graphical user interface comprises weather query means for locating and displaying any sequence of periods that match user-specified sequences of weather patterns.

Claim 2

A system for forecasting business performance, comprising: a storage device storing a business history database, a weather history database, and a weather forecast database; an analyzer to determine the extent to which past business performance of a plurality of business units at a plurality of locations was affected by weather using said business history database and said weather history database; a configurator, coupled to said analyzer, to estimate expected future business performance of said business units at said locations for a plurality of future time periods using said weather forecast database and results produced by said analyzer; and a graphical user interface, coupled to said analyzer and said configurator, to enable users to view and manipulate results produced by said analyzer and said configurator to thereby forecast future business performance of said business units at said locations, wherein said graphical user interface comprises weather query means for locating and displaying any sequence of periods that match user-specified sequences of weather patterns.

Claim 33

A method of forecasting business performance, comprising the steps of: (1) storing in a storage device a business history database, a weather history database, and a weather forecast database; (2) determining by an analyzer the extent to which past business performance of a plurality of business units at a plurality of locations was affected by weather using said business history database and said weather history database; (3) estimating by a configurator expected future business performance of said business units at said locations for a plurality of future time periods using said weather forecast database and results produced by said analyzer; and (4) enabling users to view and manipulate results produced by said analyzer and said configurator to thereby forecast future business performance of said business units at said locations for said time periods, and further comprising the step of locating and displaying any sequence of time periods that match user-specified sequences of weather patterns.

Claim 34

A method of forecasting business performance, comprising the steps of: (1) storing in a storage device a business history database, a weather history database, and a weather forecast database; (2) determining by an analyzer the extent to which past business performance of a plurality of business units at a plurality of locations was affected by weather using said business history database and said weather history database; (3) estimating by a configurator expected future business performance of said business units at said locations for a plurality of future time periods using said weather forecast database and results produced by said analyzer; and (4) enabling users to view and manipulate results produced by said analyzer and said configurator to thereby forecast future business performance of said business units at said locations for said time periods, and further comprising the step of locating and displaying any sequence of time periods that match user-specified sequences of weather patterns.

Claim 65

A system for forecasting business performance, comprising: a storage device storing a business history database, a weather history database, and a weather forecast database; an analyzer to determine the to which past business performance of a plurality of business units at a plurality of locations was affected by weather using said business history database and said weather history database; a configurator, coupled to said analyzer, to estimate expected future business performance of said business units at said locations for a plurality of future time periods using said weather forecast database and results produced by said analyzer; and a graphical user interface, coupled to said analyzer and said configurator, to enable users to view and manipulate results produced by said analyzer and said configurator to thereby forecast future business performance of said business units at said locations; wherein said configurator comprises: means for selecting a business unit; means for selecting a location; means for selecting a future period in a future time span; and business perforce estimating means for estimating business performance of said selected business unit in said selected location during said selected future period in accordance with weather predicted to occur in said location during said future period; wherein said business performance estimating means comprises: means for identifying weather patterns predicted to occur in said location during said future period; past business performance determining means for determining the manner in which said identified weather patterns have previously affected business performance if said selected business unit in said selected location; score calculating means for calculating a score indicative of predicted business strength of said selected business unit in said selected location for said selected further period in accordance with said determination of said past business performance determining means; and means for storing said in a configurator output database; wherein said past business performance determining means comprises: count retrieving means for retrieving from an analyzer output database a positive count, a negative count, and a no change count corresponding to said selected business unit and sad selected location for each of said identified weather patterns; means for summing positive counts retrieved by said count retrieving means to generate a total positive count; means for summing negative counts retrieved by said count retrieving means to generate a total negative count; and means for summing no change counts retrieved by said count retrieving means to generate a total no change count.

Claim 66

A system for forecasting business performance, comprising: a storage device storing a business history database, a weather history database, and a weather forecast database; an analyzer to determine the to which past business performance of a plurality of business units at a plurality of locations was affected by weather using said business history database and said weather history database; a configurator, coupled to said analyzer, to estimate expected future business performance of said business units at said locations for a plurality of future time periods using said weather forecast database and results produced by said analyzer; and a graphical user interface, coupled to said analyzer and said configurator, to enable users to view and manipulate results produced by said analyzer and said configurator to thereby forecast future business performance of said business units at said locations; wherein said configurator comprises: means for selecting a business unit; means for selecting a location; means for selecting a future period in a future time span; and business perforce estimating means for estimating business performance of said selected business unit in said selected location during said selected future period in accordance with weather predicted to occur in said location during said future period; wherein said business performance estimating means comprises: means for identifying weather patterns predicted to occur in said location during said future period; past business performance determining means for determining the manner in which said identified weather patterns have previously affected business performance if said selected business unit in said selected location; score calculating means for calculating a score indicative of predicted business strength of said selected business unit in said selected location for said selected further period in accordance with said determination of said past business performance determining means; and means for storing said in a configurator output database; wherein said past business performance determining means comprises: count retrieving means for retrieving from an analyzer output database a positive count, a negative count, and a no change count corresponding to said selected business unit and sad selected location for each of said identified weather patterns; means for summing positive counts retrieved by said count retrieving means to generate a total positive count; means for summing negative counts retrieved by said count retrieving means to generate a total negative count; and means for summing no change counts retrieved by said count retrieving means to generate a total no change count.

Claim 67

A system for forecasting business performance, comprising: a storage device storing a business history database, a weather history database, and a weather forecast database; an analyzer to determine the extent to which past business performance of a plurality of business units at a plurality of locations was affected by weather using said business history database and said weather history database; a configurator, coupled to said analyzer, to estimate expected future business performance of said business units at said locations for a plurality of future time periods using said weather forecast database and results produced by said analyzer; and a graphical user interface, coupled to said analyzer and said configurator, to enable users to view and manipulate results produced by said analyzer and said configurator to thereby forecast future business performance of said business units at said locations; wherein said graphical user interface comprises: weather impact means for displaying to users the manner in which past weather impacted business performance of selected business units in selected locations; wherein said weather impact means comprises: means for enabling a user to select one or more business units; means for enabling the user to select a location; record retrieval means for retrieving records from an analyzer output database corresponding to said selected business units and said selected location, said retrieved records representing past business performance of said business units in said location as affected by weather; score calculating means for using said retrieved records to calculate a score indicative of predicted business strength of said selected business units in said selected location; and means for displaying said score to the user; wherein each of said retrieved records includes a positive count, a negative count, and a no change count, said weather impact means further comprising: means for summing positive counts in said retrieved records to generate a total positive count; means for summing negative counts in said retrieved records to generate a total negative count; and means for summing no change counts in said retrieved records to generate a total no change count.

Claim 68

A system for forecasting business performance, comprising: a storage device storing a business history database, a weather history database, and a weather forecast database; an analyzer to determine the extent to which past business performance of a plurality of business units at a plurality of locations was affected by weather using said business history database and said weather history database; a configurator, coupled to said analyzer, to estimate expected future business performance of said business units at said locations for a plurality of future time periods using said weather forecast database and results produced by said analyzer; and a graphical user interface, coupled to said analyzer and said configurator, to enable users to view and manipulate results produced by said analyzer and said configurator to thereby forecast future business performance of said business units at said locations; wherein said graphical user interface comprises: weather impact means for displaying to users the manner in which past weather impacted business performance of selected business units in selected locations; wherein said weather impact means comprises: means for enabling a user to select one or more business units; means for enabling the user to select a location; record retrieval means for retrieving records from an analyzer output database corresponding to said selected business units and said selected location, said retrieved records representing past business performance of said business units in said location as affected by weather; score calculating means for using said retrieved records to calculate a score indicative of predicted business strength of said selected business units in said selected location; and means for displaying said score to the user; wherein each of said retrieved records includes a positive count, a negative count, and a no change count, said weather impact means further comprising: means for summing positive counts in said retrieved records to generate a total positive count; means for summing negative counts in said retrieved records to generate a total negative count; and means for summing no change counts in said retrieved records to generate a total no change count.

Claim 69

A system for forecasting business performance, comprising: a storage device storing a business history database, a weather history database, and a weather forecast database; an analyzer to determine the extent to which past business performance of a plurality of business units at a plurality of locations was affected by weather using said business history database and said weather history database; a configurator, coupled to said analyzer, to estimate expected future business performance of said business units at said locations for a plurality of future time periods using said weather forecast database and results produced by said analyzer; and a graphical user interface, coupled to said analyzer and said configurator, to enable users to view and manipulate results produced by said analyzer and said configurator to thereby forecast future business performance of said business units at said locations; wherein said graphical user interface comprises: weather impact means for displaying to users the manner in which past weather impacted business performance of selected business units in selected locations; wherein said weather impact means comprises: details means for displaying to users the manner in which past weather impacted business performance of selected business units in a user-selected location; wherein said detail s means comprises: means for retrieving records from an analyzer output database corresponding to said selected business units and sad user-selected location, said retrieved records representing past business performance of said business units in said user-selected location as affected by weather; score calculating means for using sad retrieved records to calculate for each weather pattern represented by said retrieved records a score indicative of predicted business strength of said selected business units in said selected location in view of said each weather pattern; and score displaying means for displaying to users a subset of scores calculated by said score calculating means; wherein said score displaying means comprises: means for displaying the two highest scores and the two lowest scores.

Claim 70

A system for forecasting business performance, comprising: a storage device storing a business history database, a weather history database, and a weather forecast database; an analyzer to determine the extent to which past business performance of a plurality of business units at a plurality of locations was affected by weather using said business history database and said weather history database; a configurator, coupled to said analyzer, to estimate expected future business performance of said business units at said locations for a plurality of future time periods using said weather forecast database and results produced by said analyzer; and a graphical user interface, coupled to said analyzer and said configurator, to enable users to view and manipulate results produced by said analyzer and said configurator to thereby forecast future business performance of said business units at said locations; wherein said graphical user interface comprises: weather impact means for displaying to users the manner in which past weather impacted business performance of selected business units in selected locations; wherein said weather impact means comprises: details means for displaying to users the manner in which past weather impacted business performance of selected business units in a user-selected location; wherein said detail s means comprises: means for retrieving records from an analyzer output database corresponding to said selected business units and sad user-selected location, said retrieved records representing past business performance of said business units in said user-selected location as affected by weather; score calculating means for using sad retrieved records to calculate for each weather pattern represented by said retrieved records a score indicative of predicted business strength of said selected business units in said selected location in view of said each weather pattern; and score displaying means for displaying to users a subset of scores calculated by said score calculating means; wherein said score displaying means comprises: means for displaying the two highest scores and the two lowest scores.

Claim 71

A system for forecasting business performance, comprising: a storage device storing a business history database, a weather history database, and a weather forecast database; an analyzer to determine the extent to which past business performance of a plurality of business units at a plurality of locations was affected by weather using said business history database and said weather history database; a configurator, coupled to said analyzer, to estimate expected future business performance of said business units at said locations for a plurality of future time periods using said weather forecast database and results produced by said analyzer; and a graphical user interface, coupled to said analyzer and said configurator, to enable users to view and manipulate results produced by said analyzer and said configurator to thereby forecast future business performance of said business units at said locations; wherein said graphical user interface comprises: weather optimization means for displaying to users predicted future business performance of selected business its at selected locations in view of predicted weather at said selected locations; wherein said weather optimization means comprises: means for enabling a user to select a business unit for evaluation; means for enabling the user to select a location for evaluation, means for retrieving from a configurator output database records corresponding to said selected business unit and said selected locations said retrieved records representing predicted future business performance of said selected business unit in said selected location; and displaying means for displaying to users information contained in said retrieved records, wherein said displaying means comprises: table displaying means for displaying a table having a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, each row corresponding to a business unit or location, and each column corresponding to a future time period; and score displaying means for displaying in a row corresponding to said selected business unit or location scores contained in said retrieved records, each score corresponding to a future time period and displayed in a column of said table associated with said future time period.

Claim 72

A system for forecasting business performance, comprising: a storage device storing a business history database, a weather history database, and a weather forecast database; an analyzer to determine the extent to which past business performance of a plurality of business units at a plurality of locations was affected by weather using said business history database and said weather history database; a configurator, coupled to said analyzer, to estimate expected future business performance of said business units at said locations for a plurality of future time periods using said weather forecast database and results produced by said analyzer; and a graphical user interface, coupled to said analyzer and said configurator, to enable users to view and manipulate results produced by said analyzer and said configurator to thereby forecast future business performance of said business units at said locations; wherein said graphical user interface comprises: weather optimization means for displaying to users predicted future business performance of selected business its at selected locations in view of predicted weather at said selected locations; wherein said weather optimization means comprises: means for enabling a user to select a business unit for evaluation; means for enabling the user to select a location for evaluation, means for retrieving from a configurator output database records corresponding to said selected business unit and said selected locations said retrieved records representing predicted future business performance of said selected business unit in said selected location; and displaying means for displaying to users information contained in said retrieved records, wherein said displaying means comprises: table displaying means for displaying a table having a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, each row corresponding to a business unit or location, and each column corresponding to a future time period; and score displaying means for displaying in a row corresponding to said selected business unit or location scores contained in said retrieved records, each score corresponding to a future time period and displayed in a column of said table associated with said future time period.

Claim 73

A system for foretasting business performance, comprising: a storage device storing a business history database, a weather history database, and a weather forecast database; an analyze to determine the extent to which past business performance of a plurality of business units at a plurality of locations was affected by weather using said business history database and said weather history database; a configurator, coupled to said analyzer, to estimate expected future business performance of said business units at said locations for a plurality of future time periods using said weather forecast database and results produced by said analyzer; and a graphical user interface, coupled to said analyzer and said configurator, to enable users to view and manipulate results produced by said analyzer and said configurator to thereby forecast future business performance of said business units at said locations; wherein said graphical user interface comprises: weather pattern search means for identifying and displaying any future periods where user-specified weather patterns are predicted to occur; wherein said weather pattern search means comprises: means for enabling a user to select a weather pattern, means for enabling the user to select one or more locations; weather search means for searching through said weather history database or said weather forecast database to locate time periods where said selected weather pattern occurs at said selected locations; and weather pattern displaying means for displaying results of said weather search means to the user; wherein said weather pattern displaying means comprises: table displaying means for displaying a table having a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, each row corresponding to a location, and each column corresponding to a future time period; and means for displaying in rows respectively corresponding to said selected locations said results of said weather search means.

Claim 74

A system for foretasting business performance, comprising: a storage device storing a business history database, a weather history database, and a weather forecast database; an analyze to determine the extent to which past business performance of a plurality of business units at a plurality of locations was affected by weather using said business history database and said weather history database; a configurator, coupled to said analyzer, to estimate expected future business performance of said business units at said locations for a plurality of future time periods using said weather forecast database and results produced by said analyzer; and a graphical user interface, coupled to said analyzer and said configurator, to enable users to view and manipulate results produced by said analyzer and said configurator to thereby forecast future business performance of said business units at said locations; wherein said graphical user interface comprises: weather pattern search means for identifying and displaying any future periods where user-specified weather patterns are predicted to occur; wherein said weather pattern search means comprises: means for enabling a user to select a weather pattern, means for enabling the user to select one or more locations; weather search means for searching through said weather history database or said weather forecast database to locate time periods where said selected weather pattern occurs at said selected locations; and weather pattern displaying means for displaying results of said weather search means to the user; wherein said weather pattern displaying means comprises: table displaying means for displaying a table having a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, each row corresponding to a location, and each column corresponding to a future time period; and means for displaying in rows respectively corresponding to said selected locations said results of said weather search means.

Claim 75

A method of forecasting business performance, comprising the steps of: (1) storing in a storage device a business history database, a weather history database, and a weather forecast database; (2) determining by an analyzer the extent to which past business performance of a plurality of business units at a plurality of locations was affected by weather using said business history database and said weather history database; (3) estimating by a configurator expected future business performance of said business units at said locations for a plurality of fixture time periods using said weather forecast database and results produced by said analyzer; and (4) enabling users to view and manipulate results produced by said analyzer and said configurator to thereby forecast future business performance of said business units at said locations for said time periods; wherein step (3) comprises the steps of: (a) selecting a business unit; (b) selecting a location; (c) selecting a future period in a future time span; and (d) estimating business performance of said selected business unit in said selected location during said selected future period in accordance with weather predicted to occur; wherein step (d) comprises the steps of: (I) identifying weather patterns predicted to occur in said location during said future period, (II) determining the manner in which said identified weather patterns have previously affected business performance of said selected business unit in said selected location; (III) calculating a score indicative of predicted business strength of said selected business unit in said selected location for said selected future period in accordance with said determination of said past business performance determining means; and (IV) storing said score in a configurator output database; wherein step (II) comprises the steps of: (A) retrieving from an analyzer output database a positive count, a negative count, and a no change count corresponding to said selected business unit and said selected location for each of said identified weather patterns; (B) summing positive counts retrieved by said count retrieving means to generate a total positive count; (C) summing negative counts retrieved by said count retrieving means to generate a total negative count; and (D) summing no change counts retrieved by said count retrieving means to generate a total no change count.

Claim 76

A method of forecasting business performance, comprising the steps of: (1) storing in a storage device a business history database, a weather history database, and a weather forecast database; (2) determining by an analyzer the extent to which past business performance of a plurality of business units at a plurality of locations was affected by weather using said business history database and said weather history database; (3) estimating by a configurator expected future business performance of said business units at said locations for a plurality of fixture time periods using said weather forecast database and results produced by said analyzer; and (4) enabling users to view and manipulate results produced by said analyzer and said configurator to thereby forecast future business performance of said business units at said locations for said time periods; wherein step (3) comprises the steps of: (a) selecting a business unit; (b) selecting a location; (c) selecting a future period in a future time span; and (d) estimating business performance of said selected business unit in said selected location during said selected future period in accordance with weather predicted to occur; wherein step (d) comprises the steps of: (I) identifying weather patterns predicted to occur in said location during said future period, (II) determining the manner in which said identified weather patterns have previously affected business performance of said selected business unit in said selected location; (III) calculating a score indicative of predicted business strength of said selected business unit in said selected location for said selected future period in accordance with said determination of said past business performance determining means; and (IV) storing said score in a configurator output database; wherein step (II) comprises the steps of: (A) retrieving from an analyzer output database a positive count, a negative count, and a no change count corresponding to said selected business unit and said selected location for each of said identified weather patterns; (B) summing positive counts retrieved by said count retrieving means to generate a total positive count; (C) summing negative counts retrieved by said count retrieving means to generate a total negative count; and (D) summing no change counts retrieved by said count retrieving means to generate a total no change count.

Claim 77

A method of forecasting business performance, comprising the steps of: (1) storing in a storage device a business history database, a weather history database, and a weather forecast database; (2) determining by an analyzer the extent to which past business performance of a plurality of business units at a plurality of locations was affected by weather using said business history database and said weather history database; (3) estimating by a configurator expected future business performance of said business units at said locations for a plurality of future time periods using said weather forecast database and results produced by said analyzer; and (4) enabling users to view and manipulate results produced by said analyzer and said configurator to thereby forecast future business performance of said business units at said locations for said time periods; wherein step (4) comprises the step of: (a) displaying to users the manner in which past weather impacted business performance of selected business units in selected locations; wherein step (a) comprises the steps of: (I) enabling a user to select one or more business units; (II) enabling the user to select a location; (III) retrieving records for an analyzer output database corresponding to said selected business units and said selected location, said retrieved records representing past business performance of said business units in said location as affected by weather, wherein each of said retrieved records includes a positive count, a negative count, and a no change count; (IV) using said retrieved records to calculate a score indicative of predicted business strength of said selected business units in said selected location; (V) displaying said score to the user; (VI) summing positive counts in said retrieved records to generate a total positive count; (VII) summing negative counts in said retrieved records to generate a total negative count; and (VIII) so change counts in said retrieved records to generate a total no change count.

Claim 78

A method of forecasting business performance, comprising the steps of: (1) storing in a storage device a business history database, a weather history database, and a weather forecast database; (2) determining by an analyzer the extent to which past business performance of a plurality of business units at a plurality of locations was affected by weather using said business history database and said weather history database; (3) estimating by a configurator expected future business performance of said business units at said locations for a plurality of future time periods using said weather forecast database and results produced by said analyzer; and (4) enabling users to view and manipulate results produced by said analyzer and said configurator to thereby forecast future business performance of said business units at said locations for said time periods; wherein step (4) comprises the step of: (a) displaying to users the manner in which past weather impacted business performance of selected business units in selected locations; wherein step (a) comprises the steps of: (I) enabling a user to select one or more business units; (II) enabling the user to select a location; (III) retrieving records for an analyzer output database corresponding to said selected business units and said selected location, said retrieved records representing past business performance of said business units in said location as affected by weather, wherein each of said retrieved records includes a positive count, a negative count, and a no change count; (IV) using said retrieved records to calculate a score indicative of predicted business strength of said selected business units in said selected location; (V) displaying said score to the user; (VI) summing positive counts in said retrieved records to generate a total positive count; (VII) summing negative counts in said retrieved records to generate a total negative count; and (VIII) so change counts in said retrieved records to generate a total no change count.

Claim 79

A method of forecasting business performance, comprising the steps of: (1) storing in a storage device a business history database, a weather history database, and a weather forecast database; (2) determining by an analyzer the extent to which past business performance of a plurality of business units at a plurality of locations was affected by weather using said business history database and said weather history database; (3) estimating by a configurator expected future business performance of said business units at said locations for a plurality of future time periods using said weather forecast database and results produced by said analyzer; and (4) enabling users to view and manipulate results produced by said analyzer and said configurator to thereby forecast fixture business performance of said business units at said locations for said time periods; wherein step (4) comprises the step of: (a) displaying to users the manner in which past weather impacted business performance of selected business units in selected locations; wherein step (a) comprises the step of: (I) displaying to users the manner in which past weather impacted business performance of selected business units in a user-selected location; wherein step (I) comprises the steps of: (A) retrieving records from an analyzer output database corresponding to said selected business units and said user-selected location, said retrieved records representing past business performance of said business units in said user-selected location as affected by weather; (B) using said retrieved records to calculate for each weather pattern represented by said retrieved records a score indicative of predicted business strength of said selected business units in said selected location in view of said each weather pattern; and (C) displaying to users a subset of scores calculated by said score calculating means; wherein step (C) comprises the step of: displaying the two highest scores and the two lowest scores.

Claim 80

A method of forecasting business performance, comprising the steps of: (1) storing in a storage device a business history database, a weather history database, and a weather forecast database; (2) determining by an analyzer the extent to which past business performance of a plurality of business units at a plurality of locations was affected by weather using said business history database and said weather history database; (3) estimating by a configurator expected future business performance of said business units at said locations for a plurality of future time periods using said weather forecast database and results produced by said analyzer; and (4) enabling users to view and manipulate results produced by said analyzer and said configurator to thereby forecast fixture business performance of said business units at said locations for said time periods; wherein step (4) comprises the step of: (a) displaying to users the manner in which past weather impacted business performance of selected business units in selected locations; wherein step (a) comprises the step of: (I) displaying to users the manner in which past weather impacted business performance of selected business units in a user-selected location; wherein step (I) comprises the steps of: (A) retrieving records from an analyzer output database corresponding to said selected business units and said user-selected location, said retrieved records representing past business performance of said business units in said user-selected location as affected by weather; (B) using said retrieved records to calculate for each weather pattern represented by said retrieved records a score indicative of predicted business strength of said selected business units in said selected location in view of said each weather pattern; and (C) displaying to users a subset of scores calculated by said score calculating means; wherein step (C) comprises the step of: displaying the two highest scores and the two lowest scores.

Claim 81

A method of forecasting business performance, comprising the steps of: (1) storing in a storage device a business history database, a weather history database, and a weather forecast database; (2) determining by an analyzer the extent to which past business performance of a plurality of business units at a plurality of locations was affected by weather using said business history database and said weather history database; (3) estimating by a configurator expected future business performance of said business units at said locations for a plurality of future time periods using said weather forecast database and results produced by said analyzer; and (4) enabling users to view and manipulate results produced by said analyzer and said configurator to thereby forecast future business performance of said business units at said locations for said time periods; wherein step (4) comprises the step of: (a) displaying to users predicted future business performance of selected business units at selected locations in view of predicted weather at said selected locations wherein step (a) comprises the steps of: (I) enabling a user to select a business unit for evaluation; (II) enabling the user to select a location and time period for evaluation; (III) retrieving from a configurator output database records corresponding to said selected business unit and said selected location, said retrieved records representing predicted future business performance of said selected business unit in said selected location for said selected time period; and (IV) displaying to users information contained in said retrieved records; step (IV) comprises the steps of: displaying a table having a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, each row corresponding to a location, and each column corresponding to a future time period; and displaying in a row corresponding to said selected location scores contained in said retrieved records, each score corresponding to a future time period and displayed in a column of said table associated with said future time period.

Claim 82

A method of forecasting business performance, comprising the steps of: (1) storing in a storage device a business history database, a weather history database, and a weather forecast database; (2) determining by an analyzer the extent to which past business performance of a plurality of business units at a plurality of locations was affected by weather using said business history database and said weather history database; (3) estimating by a configurator expected future business performance of said business units at said locations for a plurality of future time periods using said weather forecast database and results produced by said analyzer; and (4) enabling users to view and manipulate results produced by said analyzer and said configurator to thereby forecast future business performance of said business units at said locations for said time periods; wherein step (4) comprises the step of: (a) displaying to users predicted future business performance of selected business units at selected locations in view of predicted weather at said selected locations wherein step (a) comprises the steps of: (I) enabling a user to select a business unit for evaluation; (II) enabling the user to select a location and time period for evaluation; (III) retrieving from a configurator output database records corresponding to said selected business unit and said selected location, said retrieved records representing predicted future business performance of said selected business unit in said selected location for said selected time period; and (IV) displaying to users information contained in said retrieved records; step (IV) comprises the steps of: displaying a table having a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, each row corresponding to a location, and each column corresponding to a future time period; and displaying in a row corresponding to said selected location scores contained in said retrieved records, each score corresponding to a future time period and displayed in a column of said table associated with said future time period.

Claim 83

A method of forecasting business performance, comprising the steps of: (1) storing in a storage device a business history database, a weather history database, and a weather forecast database; (2) determining by an analyzer the extent to which past business performance of a plurality of business units at a plurality of locations was affected by weather using said business history database and said weather history database; (3) estimating by a configurator expected future business performance of said business units at said locations for a plurality of future time periods using said weather forecast database and results produced by said analyzer; and (4) enabling users to view and manipulate results produced by said analyzer and said configurator to thereby forecast future business performance of said business units at said locations for said time periods; wherein step (4) comprises the step of: (a) identifying and displaying any future periods where user-specified weather patterns are predicted to occur; wherein step (a) comprises the steps of: (I) enabling a user to select a weather pattern; (II) enabling the user to select one or more locations; (III) searching through said weather history database or said weather forecast database to locate time periods where said selected weather pattern occurs; and (IV) displaying results of said weather search means to the user wherein step (IV) comprises the steps of: displaying a table having a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, each row corresponding to a location, and each column corresponding to a future time period; and (1) storing in a storage device a business history databases a weather history database, and a weather forecast database; (2) determining by an analyzer the extent to which past business performance of a plurality of business units at a plurality of locations was affected by weather using said business history database and said weather history database; (3) estimating by a configurator expected future business performance of said business units at said locations for a plurality of future time periods using said weather forecast database and results produced by said analyzer; and (4) enabling users to view and manipulate results produced by said analyzer and said configurator to thereby forecast future business performance of said business units at said locations for said time periods; wherein step (4) comprises the step of: (a) identifying and displaying any future periods where user-specified weather patterns are predicted to occur; wherein step (a) comprises the steps of: (I) enabling a user to select a weather pattern; (II) enabling the user to select one or more locations; (III) searching through said weather history database or said weather forecast database to locate time periods where said selected weather patter occurs; and (IV) displaying results of said weather search means to the user wherein step (IV) comprises the steps of: displaying a table having a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, each row corresponding to a location, and each column corresponding to a future time period; and displaying in rows respectively corresponding to said selected locations said results of said weather search means.

Claim 84

A method of forecasting business performance, comprising the steps of: (1) storing in a storage device a business history database, a weather history database, and a weather forecast database; (2) determining by an analyzer the extent to which past business performance of a plurality of business units at a plurality of locations was affected by weather using said business history database and said weather history database; (3) estimating by a configurator expected future business performance of said business units at said locations for a plurality of future time periods using said weather forecast database and results produced by said analyzer; and (4) enabling users to view and manipulate results produced by said analyzer and said configurator to thereby forecast future business performance of said business units at said locations for said time periods; wherein step (4) comprises the step of: (a) identifying and displaying any future periods where user-specified weather patterns are predicted to occur; wherein step (a) comprises the steps of: (I) enabling a user to select a weather pattern; (II) enabling the user to select one or more locations; (III) searching through said weather history database or said weather forecast database to locate time periods where said selected weather pattern occurs; and (IV) displaying results of said weather search means to the user wherein step (IV) comprises the steps of: displaying a table having a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, each row corresponding to a location, and each column corresponding to a future time period; and (1) storing in a storage device a business history databases a weather history database, and a weather forecast database; (2) determining by an analyzer the extent to which past business performance of a plurality of business units at a plurality of locations was affected by weather using said business history database and said weather history database; (3) estimating by a configurator expected future business performance of said business units at said locations for a plurality of future time periods using said weather forecast database and results produced by said analyzer; and (4) enabling users to view and manipulate results produced by said analyzer and said configurator to thereby forecast future business performance of said business units at said locations for said time periods; wherein step (4) comprises the step of: (a) identifying and displaying any future periods where user-specified weather patterns are predicted to occur; wherein step (a) comprises the steps of: (I) enabling a user to select a weather pattern; (II) enabling the user to select one or more locations; (III) searching through said weather history database or said weather forecast database to locate time periods where said selected weather patter occurs; and (IV) displaying results of said weather search means to the user wherein step (IV) comprises the steps of: displaying a table having a plurality of rows and a plurality of columns, each row corresponding to a location, and each column corresponding to a future time period; and displaying in rows respectively corresponding to said selected locations said results of said weather search means.