Our Stories - National Weather Service Heritage
Content with Time Periods Becoming a Weather-Ready Nation (Today and Beyond) .
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Becoming a Weather-Ready Nation (Today and Beyond), Revolutionizing Observations, Forecasts & Dissemination (1990-Today), Modernization and Restructuring (1980-1990), ESSA to NOAA and Environmental Focus (1965-1980), Post-War Expansion (1945-1960)Then and Now: The National Hurricane Center
Officially founded in 1955, the National Hurricane Center (NHC) has been in existence for almost 70 years. Read its storied history here. Read More »
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Becoming a Weather-Ready Nation (Today and Beyond), Revolutionizing Observations, Forecasts & Dissemination (1990-Today)Intense Summer 2012 Microburst Impacts Localized Area South of Washington, DC
Just one week after the Super Derecho of late June 2012 impacted millions of people across the Upper Midwest and Mid-Atlantic region, an intense localized microburst impacted part of the Fredericksburg, Virginia area, around 60 miles south of Washington, D.C. Read More »
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Becoming a Weather-Ready Nation (Today and Beyond), Revolutionizing Observations, Forecasts & Dissemination (1990-Today)Long-Lived and Destructive: The June 29, 2012 Derecho
Prior to June 29, 2012, most people in the Mid Atlantic weren't familiar with the term "derecho." However, that would soon change. Read More »
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Becoming a Weather-Ready Nation (Today and Beyond), Revolutionizing Observations, Forecasts & Dissemination (1990-Today)Tragedy at Joplin-The EF-5 of May 22, 2011
As communities across the Southeastern US were still reeling from a busy and tragic April in 2011, an unthinkable tragedy struck again in a different part of the country about one month later. Read More »
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Becoming a Weather-Ready Nation (Today and Beyond), The Satellite Age Begins (1960-1965)Then and Now: Decades of Hurricane Preparedness
One crucial part of the National Weather Service’s effort to build a Weather-Ready Nation is the element of preparedness -- knowing what’s coming, where to go, and what to do. Read More »
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Becoming a Weather-Ready Nation (Today and Beyond), Modernization and Restructuring (1980-1990), ESSA to NOAA and Environmental Focus (1965-1980)Lasting Collaboration: The History of the National Ice Center
In working to achieve the mission of the agency, the NWS often collaborates with other organizations and groups to improve accuracy and protect lives. Read More »
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Becoming a Weather-Ready Nation (Today and Beyond)Changing Tides: The National Weather Service and Rip Current Safety
Even the strongest swimmers can fall victim to a rip current. Read about the NWS campaign that has protected beachgoers for almost 20 years. Read More »
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Becoming a Weather-Ready Nation (Today and Beyond)Planning Ahead: The #SafePlaceSelfie Campaign
The #SafePlace Selfie social media campaign, though fairly new, has had a monumental impact on safety and preparedness. Read More »
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Becoming a Weather-Ready Nation (Today and Beyond), Revolutionizing Observations, Forecasts & Dissemination (1990-Today)Using Ocean Modeling to Track the Movement of Nuclear Contamination: NWS Responds to the Fukushima Daiichi Disaster - Part 2
On March 12, 2011, the day after the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster occurred, NOAA and the NWS began moving swiftly to determine how to help. Read More »
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Becoming a Weather-Ready Nation (Today and Beyond), Revolutionizing Observations, Forecasts & Dissemination (1990-Today)Origins of NOAA’s U.S. Spring Outlook
Dive into the history of the Spring Outlook, an annual report with roots almost 30 years in the past. Read More »
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Becoming a Weather-Ready Nation (Today and Beyond), Revolutionizing Observations, Forecasts & Dissemination (1990-Today)Reflecting on “The Long Winter” with Barb Mayes Boustead
For Barb Mayes Boustead, the record-breaking winter storms of 2008 and 2009 brought to mind another “Long Winter”: the one penned by Laura Ingalls Wilder, author of the Little House book series. Read More »
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Becoming a Weather-Ready Nation (Today and Beyond), Revolutionizing Observations, Forecasts & Dissemination (1990-Today)Using Ocean Modeling to Track Nuclear Contamination: NWS Responds to the Fukushima Daiichi Disaster - Part 1
While the mission of the NWS is focused on domestic climate and environmental efforts, catastrophic weather events happen worldwide. Read More »
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Becoming a Weather-Ready Nation (Today and Beyond), Revolutionizing Observations, Forecasts & Dissemination (1990-Today), Modernization and Restructuring (1980-1990), ESSA to NOAA and Environmental Focus (1965-1980)Scratching the Surface: A Photo History of Surface Analyses at the Weather Prediction Center
Though it has operated under many different names and used many different technologies to predict weather over the years, the Weather Prediction Center has been producing surface analyses since the very beginning. Read More »
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Becoming a Weather-Ready Nation (Today and Beyond), Revolutionizing Observations, Forecasts & Dissemination (1990-Today), Modernization and Restructuring (1980-1990), ESSA to NOAA and Environmental Focus (1965-1980), The Satellite Age Begins (1960-1965), Post-War Expansion (1945-1960), Weather and the War (1942-1945), Early Growth (1912-1941), The Weather Bureau Rises (1891-1912), Signal Service Years (1870-1891)The National Weather Service at 150: A Brief History
The National Weather Service celebrated its 150th Birthday on February 9, 2020. Read More »
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Becoming a Weather-Ready Nation (Today and Beyond)Floods and the Awesome Power
Although severe weather events impact everyone, they can create unique challenges for people with disabilities. Read More »
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Becoming a Weather-Ready Nation (Today and Beyond), Weather and the War (1942-1945), Signal Service Years (1870-1891), The Pioneers (pre-1870)Out of Thin Air: The History and Evolution of Upper-Air Observations
A practice that can be dated as far back as the 18th century, when Benjamin Franklin flew a kite in a thunderstorm to prove the electrical nature of lightning, upper-air observations have been indispensable to meteorologists for hundreds of years. Read More »
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Becoming a Weather-Ready Nation (Today and Beyond), Early Growth (1912-1941)NWS and AMS: 100 Years of Working Together
Ever since the founding of the American Meteorological Society, the organization has had an incredibly close relationship with the NWS. Read More »
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Becoming a Weather-Ready Nation (Today and Beyond)The Port Meteorological Officer
The U.S. Voluntary Observing Ship program provides vital weather observations to the NWS, and Port Meteorological Officers serve as the field representatives and primary points of contact for ships. Read More »
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Becoming a Weather-Ready Nation (Today and Beyond), Revolutionizing Observations, Forecasts & Dissemination (1990-Today)The Indian Ocean Tsunami of 2004: A Wake-Up Call
For many around the world, the day after Christmas is celebrated as another holiday: “Boxing Day.” On that day in 2004, however, the world was shattered by one of the most devastating natural disasters in recorded history, forever changing humankind’s perception of tsunamis. Read More »
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Becoming a Weather-Ready Nation (Today and Beyond)The Unsung Heroes of Firefighting: NWS Forecasters in the Field
Along with firefighters and first responders, there is another group vital to wildfire aid: Incident Meteorologists, or IMETs. Read More »
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Becoming a Weather-Ready Nation (Today and Beyond)All in an Alaskan COOP Day
NWS employees sometimes have to go to great lengths to visit cooperative weather observing stations. Read More »
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Becoming a Weather-Ready Nation (Today and Beyond), Revolutionizing Observations, Forecasts & Dissemination (1990-Today), Modernization and Restructuring (1980-1990)
Weather Woodles
In order to help young children understand the weather, long-time National Weather Service employee Carolyn Willis created fuzzy, zany cartoon characters to explain complex weather phenomena: the Weather Woodles. Read More »
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Becoming a Weather-Ready Nation (Today and Beyond), Revolutionizing Observations, Forecasts & Dissemination (1990-Today)Wireless Emergency Alerts: How Your Mobile Device Could Save Your Life!
A mid-2000s Congressional Act inspired a revolutionary development in emergency notification technology: Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEAs). Thanks to Wireless WEAs, countless lives have been saved when they otherwise wouldn't have been. Read More »
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Becoming a Weather-Ready Nation (Today and Beyond)Winds of Change: The 2011 Tornado Outbreak and the Birth of a Weather-Ready Nation
Over the course of our 150-year history, tragic storm events have driven monumental change within the organization. In April of 2011, a tornado outbreak changed the National Weather Service forever. Read More »
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Becoming a Weather-Ready Nation (Today and Beyond)Then and Now: NOAA Hurricane Hunters
In order to collect life-saving information, the NOAA Hurricane Hunters risk their lives and fly directly into the eye of the storm. Read More »
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Becoming a Weather-Ready Nation (Today and Beyond)StormReady: Connecting with Communities to Save Lives
A tragic storm leads to an inspired idea to connect directly with communities. Read More »
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Becoming a Weather-Ready Nation (Today and Beyond)The Great Flood of 1993
The size and impact of the Great Flood of 1993 was unprecedented and has been considered the most costly and devastating flood to ravage the U.S. in modern history. Read More »
