• by David Goetzl  @dgoetzl, June 11, 2009

As the Weather Channel looks to add additional nights with original longer-form programs to Saturdays and Sundays, the network is debuting new series this season in its weekend prime-time slots. "Storm Stories," the channel's highest-rated series, also returns for a third season. It airs Saturday and Sunday evenings.

Sometime after 2010, the network hopes to bring originals to at least one weeknight, where it now airs its "Weather Center" staple.

The current upfront season marks the first in which the Weather Channel will be selling after NBC Universal took a 25% stake in the network, which has brought some synergies with the NBC News division. Most notably, "Today's" Al Roker will host a weekday morning show starting July 20, running from 6 a.m. to 7 a.m. His co-host will be channel notable Stephanie Abrams.

The Weather Channel can also tap into weather-oriented reporting from NBC News, or the network's local affiliates when appropriate. That dovetails with efforts to give its weather updates more of a news focus, such as recent commentary on the potential effect weather may have had on the Air France crash earlier this month.

On the new original programming front comes "Cantore Stories," where storm tracker Jim Cantore meets people living in some of the country's most weather-challenged environments, including the Louisiana bayou and chilly Minnesota. Cantore is the narrator of "Storm Stories."

Also on tap is "Weatherproof" which hopes to provide insight into the potency of certain weather events, partly by putting "everyday items through extraordinary weather conditions."

Coming next year is "Tornado Chasers," where viewers will be "embedded" with scientists who move into the funnel.