Today is the anniversary of the National Weather Service's founding. The service has an interesting history, and is currently one of the most important governmental organizations in planning for weather events large and small and how those natural phenomena will affect US businesses.
For a company like Starkweather, the weather is one of our reasons for being. The more we understand it, the better we can prepare our customers and the greater our products will be. So thanks, President Ulysses S. Grant for having that foresight.
It's an interesting history that you can read about more here. But in the meantime here is a snippet:
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The U. S. Army operated the first national weather service in 1878 — the "observing-sergeants." They were chosen because "military discipline would probably secure the greatest promptness, regularity and accuracy." When the civilian national weather service was created in 1890 it was suggested that the name be "Weather Reporting Office of the National Government (WRONG)" — honest! "You have to have an ego to forecast the weather. But, you must be a good loser, too, because you can lose 80% of the time."
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What is the National Weather Service today?
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Our Mission
Provide weather, water, and climate data, forecasts and warnings for the protection of life and property and enhancement of the national economy.
Our Vision
A Weather-Ready Nation: Society is Prepared for and Responds to Weather-Dependent Events
Organization
The headquarters of the National Weather Service is located in Silver Spring, MD with regional headquarters located in Kansas City, Mo.; Bohemia, N.Y.; Fort Worth, Texas; Salt Lake City, Utah; Anchorage, Alaska; and Honolulu, Hawaii. With some 5,000 employees in 122 weather forecast offices, 13 river forecast centers, 9 national centers, and other support offices around the country, NWS provides a national infrastructure to gather and process data worldwide. Each year, NWS collects some 76 billion observations and issues approximately 1.5 million forecasts and 50,000 warnings.
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To explore the weather of the past and the present, and projections for the near future, go to the website: National Weather Service