Our Stories - National Weather Service Heritage
Content with tag aviation .
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Post-War Expansion (1945-1960)Flying the Aleutians
A Weather Bureau forecaster shares her experience in 1956 of familiarizing herself with the aviation network serving the Aleutian Islands. Read More »
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Early Growth (1912-1941)Close Calls During Weather Flights
The stories of Frank Knapp, a Weather Bureau pilot during the 1930s. 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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Modernization and Restructuring (1980-1990), Post-War Expansion (1945-1960), Weather and the War (1942-1945)The National Weather Service and the Evolution of Meteorological Radar
Radar, a technological concept that was first developed over 100 years ago, is a vital part of modern meteorology. Read More »
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Modernization and Restructuring (1980-1990)The Sky is Falling: Delta Air Lines Flight 191 Crash
In 1985, Delta Air Lines Flight 191 fell from the sky at the Dallas/Fort Worth International airport as a result of inclement weather. Read More »
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ESSA to NOAA and Environmental Focus (1965-1980)Almost Science Fiction: Hurricane Modification and Project STORMFURY
In the years between 1962 and 1983, hurricane observation took an enormous step in an ambitious direction that almost sounds like science fiction: human interference and the modification of hurricanes. Read More »
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Post-War Expansion (1945-1960)The Thunderstorm Project: When Pilots Flew Into Thunderstorms ... Intentionally
As the aviation industry expanded during WWII, the increase in air travel led to weather-related aviation incidents--primarily caused by thunderstorms. To learn about these dangerous storms, Congress mandated an in-depth meteorological study: the Thunderstorm Project 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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The Weather Bureau Rises (1891-1912), blogsThe Wright Brothers and the Weather Bureau
On December 17, 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright made four brief flights at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina with their first powered aircraft. Read More »