Historedia
AmericasEvent

US Weather Bureau issues its first official forecast

When
1870–1871
Where
Congress; New weather service
Episodes
2

The first official US weather service was established by Congress in February 1870 and placed under the Army Signal Corps. The legacy claim of a 1 November 1870 warning of high winds at Chicago, Milwaukee, and along the Lakes is not corroborated by the supplied passages. Cleveland Abbe began developing a national forecast system in January 1871 and began issuing forecasts the following month.

Episodes

  1. 9 February 1870 · CongressEstablishment of Weather Service

    Congress established the first official US weather service in February 1870, placing it under the War Department to ensure accurate storm notifications.

  2. January 1871 · New weather serviceDevelopment of National Forecasts

    Cleveland Abbe joined the service in January 1871 and began developing a national forecast system, issuing forecasts the following month.

Background and detail

Background. The first official weather service of the United States was established on February 9, 1870, through a joint resolution signed by President Ulysses S. Grant. Placed under the War Department, the agency aimed to secure promptness and accuracy in meteorological observations. Its mission included providing notice of storm approaches on the Great Lakes and seacoast via magnetic telegraph and marine signals.

Forecast Development. Cleveland Abbe, director of the Cincinnati Observatory, began developing public weather forecasts called "probabilities" in 1869 using telegraphed observations. In November 1870, Myer hired Lapham as the first civilian assistant to the new service. In January 1871, Abbe joined as the second civilian assistant and began developing a system for national forecasts, which he began issuing the following month. The agency was initially named the Division of Telegrams and Reports for the Benefit of Commerce.

People involved

Sources

  1. National Weather Service Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-09

Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.