National Weather Service
The National Weather Service (NWS), once known as the Weather Bureau, is one of the six scientific agencies that make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States government. It is tasked with providing “weather, hydrologic, and climate forecasts and warnings for the United States, its territories, adjacent waters and ocean areas, for the protection of life and property and the enhancement of the national economy.” This is done through a collection of national and regional centers, and more than 122 local weather forecast offices (WFOs). Since the NWS is a government agency, most of its products are in the public domain and available free of charge.
National Weather Service History
The NWS, formerly known as the Weather Bureau, was founded on February 9, 1870 through a joint congressional resolution signed by President Ulysses S. Grant. The mission of the NWS was “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.” The agency was placed under the Secretary of War because “military discipline would probably secure the greatest promptness, regularity, and accuracy in the required observations.” Within the Department of War, it was assigned to the U.S. Army Signal Corps under Brigadier General Albert J. Myer. General Myer gave the National Weather Service its first name: The Division of Telegrams and Reports for the Benefit of Commerce.
The agency first became a civilian enterprise in 1890, when it became part of the Department of Agriculture; it would later be moved to the Department of Commerce in 1940. The first Weather Bureau radiosonde was launched in Massachusetts in 1937, which went on to replace all routine aircraft observation within two years. The Bureau was renamed the National Weather Service in 1967, as part of the Environmental Science Services Administration, which became the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) three years later with the enactment of the National Environmental Policy Act.
National Weather Service Controversy
While generally respected as one of the premier weather organizations in the United States, the National Weather Service has been perceived by some, particularly libertarians and commercial weather services such as AccuWeather, as competing unfairly with the private sector. In 2005, Senator Rick Santorum (R-PA) introduced the National Weather Service Duties Act of 2005, a bill intended to limit the NWS’s ability to provide data that could be given just as easily by commercial outlets, but at a cost. The bill was widely criticized by users of the NWS’s services. The bill died in committee during the 2005 session.
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