The National Weather Service is turning 145 today (February 9th). The agency continues to provide weather information to help protect lives and property, which is their mission statement.
President Ulysses S. Grant on February 9, 1870 authorized the formation of the National Weather Service, which was actually called the United States Weather Bureau and was run under the War Department.
By 1891, forecasts and weather information released by the Weather Bureau were quickly advancing and being sent by telegraph to many consumers by 1902. The Bureau started issuing important weather forecasts for agriculture purposes, so was moved from being under the War Department to being part of the Department of Agriculture from 1891 to 1940.
While agriculture was a large consumer of meteorological data from the Weather Bureau the aviation community relied heavily on the observations and forecasts as well. As a result, in 1940, the Weather Bureau once again transferred departments and became part of the Department of Commerce, where it continues to be today.
From the 1940s to now large advancements have been made in technology. Some of the largest advancement included the use of Doppler Radar, weather satellites launched into space, faster computers to run more sophisticated weather models, copious amount of research to better understand how weather works and additional weather stations across the country.
It was not until 1970, that the Weather Bureau changed its name to the National Weather Service (NWS) which became a part of the new National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration (NOAA). The National Weather Service has its headquarters in Silver Spring, MD, with 122 local forecast offices across the United States. Arizona is home to three of those local offices located in Flagstaff, Phoenix and Tucson. Each year the National Weather Service issues 1.5 million weather forecasts and issues 50,000 weather warnings according to their website.
It is common for the National Weather Service and meteorologists in other areas, such as television, universities, the private sector etc. to all communicate to provide the best possible forecast and deliver information to the public.
For the latest forecast from 12 News forecasters/meteorologists you can head over to weather.azcentral.com or download the 12 News App. If you have not yet downloaded the app search "12 News KPNX" in the App Store or Google Play.
