WeatherNation TV, the competitor network to The Weather Channel that was thrust into the national spotlight after the latter got booted from DirecTV over a contract dispute, announced on Monday that the fledgling network will now reach almost 8 million Roku devices with the launch of its new streaming service on the platform.

The company's press release listed off the features available to those who have Roku 4.9 or later:

[...] Within the app, viewers will get current and "Feels Like" temperatures, wind speeds, humidity levels, air pressure, dew point and extended forecasts for their location.

Additionally, WeatherNation on the Roku streaming platform lets consumers:

-Watch on-demand video segments of regional weather news.
-View weather forecasts and more about a given location.
-Check WeatherNation's travel forecast before going on a trip.
-Get detailed weather advisories for severe weather in a given location.

In a recent email interview I conducted with WeatherNation TV president Michael Norton for the Washington Post's Capital Weather Gang, Norton said that WeatherNation reaches over 30 million households in the United States — 20 million through DirecTV, and 10 million more through local television affiliates.

While The Weather Channel and WeatherNation are the only two weather-based channels on television as of now, this will change later in the year. In January, AccuWeather announced plans to launch their own television weather network in the third quarter of 2014.

Another company — Network Weather, LLC. — announced its plans to launch a 24-hour weather channel later this year, as well. The prospective channel recruited several seasoned meteorologists such as the overwhelmingly jolly Dave Schwartz, who was a mainstay on The Weather Channel until the 2000s. Strangely, after the company posted a Facebook status (left) making a cryptic announcement about their future plans, their Facebook page vanished.

But until either of those two new channels launch, the television weather game belongs to The Weather Channel and WeatherNation's growing audience.

[Images via WeatherNation and Network Weather Channel's (former) Facebook page]