ROANOKE, Va. – In 2018, we have thousands upon thousands of hourly weather observations in the U.S. made by the government, volunteers, ships, aircraft, satellites and automated weather stations. In the 1870s, the idea of collecting weather data had only just begun.
On February 9, 1870, President Ulysses. S. Grant signed a joint resolution of Congress to establish a weather service within the Army. The Secretary of War was required "to provide for taking meteorological observations at the military stations in the interior of the continent and at other points in the States and Territories and for giving notice on the northern (Great) Lakes and on the seacoast by magnetic telegraph and marine signals, of the approach and force of storms."
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On the morning of November 1, 1870, observer sergeants recorded the first synchronized weather observations at 24 different sites.
(At this time, there were 37 states in the U.S. Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Arizona, Alaska and Hawaii had not yet achieved statehood.)
The observations, transmitted by telegraph, were then sent to D.C. Very little meteorology was actually used to forecast during this time. It was assumed that the weather that occurred at one location would then just move downstream.
In 1891, the Weather Bureau became part of the Department of Agriculture. Advances continued over the following 50 years in both weather observing and forecasting. This brings us to 1940.
Since 1940, the National Weather Service has been part of the Department of Commerce. The advance in computer technology and in meteorology has lead to more accurate, more timely forecasts in recent years.
Sources:
1. https://mrcc.illinois.edu/FORTS/histories/UT_Salt_Lake_City_Conner.pdf
2. https://www.history.noaa.gov/legacy/nws125.html
3. https://www.weather.gov/key/history