What would you think is the most important advance in weather technology during the last 200 years? Doppler radar? The weather satellite? Computer models? I would propose that it was the simple telegraph.
The invention of the telegraph in the 1840’s meant that for the first time, weather observations could be received and plotted in near real-time.
On December 8, 1846, Joseph Henry of the new Smithsonian Institution proposed to create a nationwide network of weather observers across the expanding United States using the new commercial telegraph. Forecasting in those days amounted to simply warning points north and east of weather that was coming, but that was a great first step.
Within three years, over one hundred and fifty observers were transmitting observations to the Smithsonian.
In 1850, Henry began plotting the national observations on a large map in the Smithsonian Institution. The weather map was one of the most popular exhibits in the museum and became one of Washington’s most popular meeting spots. The first national weather map would be published by The Washington Evening Star in 1857.
The Civil War would bring a temporary halt to the Smithsonian network of cooperative weather observers. After the war, the network would be rebuilt and would be the predecessor of our national weather service, established officially in 1870.
