U.S. Weather Bureau
The United States Weather Bureau, today the National Weather Service, was a meteorological office founded in 1870 under the auspices of the U.S. Army Signal Corps.
Increase Lapham, Cleveland Abbe, and Signal Corps head Albert J. Myer were the principal advocates for the formation of the Bureau.[1] Abbe became its first head.
Additionally, under Abbe, the Weather Bureau opened a department for advanced study and training in meteorology: "America's first postgraduate program in meteorology".[2]
In the 'late 1870s' the Weather Bureau received telegraph reports from 22 stations. In 1879 these began to be reproduced in a weather map published by the New York Daily Graphic. In 1890–1 the Weather Bureau was transferred to civilian control (the Department of Agriculture).[3][4]
Its responsibilities were defined (by the same law, passed in 1890) as follows:
The Chief of the Weather Bureau, under the direction of the Secretary of Agriculture (Commerce), shall have charge of the forecasting of weather, the issue of storm warnings, the display of weather and flood signals for the benefit of agriculture, commerce, and navigation, the gauging and reporting of rivers, the maintenance and operation of seacoast telegraph lines and the collection and transmission of marine intelligence for the benefit of commerce and navigation, the reporting of temperature and rainfall conditions for the cotton interests, the display of frost and cold-wave signals, the distribution of meteorological information in the interests of agriculture and commerce, and the taking of such meteorological observations as may be necessary to establish and record the climatic conditions of the United States, or as are essential for the proper execution of the foregoing duties.[4][5]
In the 1890s, the Bureau built up its facilities on Mount Weather in Virginia, sixty miles west of Washington.[6]
Circa 1909 the Weather Bureau began to use weather balloons.[7]
Directors:
- Cleveland Abbe (1870–1890)
- Mark Harrington (1890–1895)
- Willis L. Moore (1895–1913)
- Charles Frederick Marvin (1913–1934)
References
- ↑ Canning, 2012, Forecasting the Future, p. 9.
- ↑ Koelsch, "From Geo- to Physical Science", 512, quoted in Canning, 2012, Forecasting the Future, p. 12.
- ↑ Teague & Gallicchio, 2017, p 24.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 Canning, 2012, Forecasting the Future, p. 20.
- ↑ ”The Weather Bureau Record of War Administration”, Part 10, ‘NOAA History, 2006.
- ↑ Canning, 2012, Forecasting the Future, p. 23.
- ↑ Teague & Gallicchio, 2017, p 25.
Bibliography
- Donald Whitnah, A History of the United States Weather Bureau (1961)
| Organization names | Weather Bureau; National Weather Service |
|---|---|
| Entity type | |
| Country | US |
| City | Washington, DC |
| Affiliated with | |
| Scope | National |
| Started aero | |
| Ended aero | |
| Keywords | |
| Key people | Cleveland Abbe, Willis S. Moore, Charles Frederick Marvin, Henry B. Hersey |
| Wikidata id |
