People throughout the centuries have been interested in the weather. The Sanskrit origin of the word "weather" probably dates to at least 3,000 BC, where it translates to "we" for wind and "vydra" for storm.
Centuries later, the word for weather had become "weder," the precursor to the term we now know as weather.
By the Fourth Century BC, attempts to understand the physical aspects of weather had become an ongoing interest in many parts of the world. The first recorded weather observations were probably taken in ancient Greece using crude rain gauges and weather vanes.
It is from Aristotle (382-322 BC) that we get the name for the study of weather. Aristotle's book "Meteorologica" attempted to explain the meaning of "meteoros," the Greek word for high above, as anything that fell from the sky, including rain, snow and meteors.
There is evidence that rain gauges were used as early as 400 BC in India and by the First Century AD in Palestine.
During the Renaissance, many important discoveries were made in the science of weather.
Polish Astronomer Nicholaus Copernicus (1473-1543) determined that the earth revolved around the sun.
Galileo Galilei (1594-1644) set forth important theories about air temperature. He invented the thermometer in 1548 as a means to measure temperature.
Evangelista Torricelli (1608-1647), a student of Galileo, developed the barometer in 1648 originally as a way to explain and measure water pressure and later, air pressure.
Christopher Wren (1632-1723) found a more accurate method of measuring rain in 1662, through his invention of the tipping bucket rain gauge.
Many theories about dynamics in the atmosphere and how they affect weather were considered during the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries.
Early in the Eighteenth Century, members of the scientific community (who often included agriculturists and physicians among their ranks) knew a storm in the American colonies could cross the Atlantic and affect Northern Europe.
Ben Franklin (1706-1790), an intense weather enthusiast who kept intricate records of both weather events and climate data, learned that most storms moved in a west to east direction.
In the 1860's, Elias Loomis, an American college mathematics professor, cited the correlation between low pressure and stormy weather.
By the mid-1800's, the combination of a better understanding of the physics of weather and improved ways to measure weather factors made it possible for the first time to consider publishing weather forecasts. This information would prove to be helpful regarding transportation concerns, for farmers and, eventually, the public.
From 1853 to 1873, the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC, under the guidance of Professor John Henry, began a network of voluntary observation stations around the country. These stations supplied Smithsonian meteorologists with air temperature, wind speed, barometric pressure and current precipitation readings from their local areas via telegraph.
Once the information was received from the observation stations, the Smithsonian meteorologists took the data and plotted weather maps.
Using isobars to depict areas of equal pressure and isotherms to show air temperature areas, meteorologists began forecasting how weather in one area of the country might affect another.
In 1870, President Ulysses S. Grant (1822-1885) signed a proclamation giving the United States Army Signal Service the responsibility of both collecting weather observations and issuing storm warnings throughout the United States. In 1891, the US Weather Bureau was formed under the Department of Agriculture to carry out civilian weather activities. The Weather Bureau was moved to the Department of Commerce in 1940.
In 1970, the newly named National Weather Service (NWS) became a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), also a branch of the Department of Commerce.
