NATIONAL WEATHERPERSON’S DAY

http://www.weather.gov/cae/NationalWeatherpersonsDay

Always celebrated on February 5th, National Weatherperson’s Day, which is also known as National Weatherman’s Day, is a day to honor all individuals in the fields of meteorology, weather forecasting, and broadcast meteorology.  Volunteer storm spotters and observers are also recognized on this day as well as any others that work in the weather field.

This annual holiday commemorates the birthday of John Jeffries who was born on this day in 1744.  Dr. Jeffries, a scientist and a surgeon, is considered to be one of America’s first weather observers.   He kept weather records from 1774 to 1816.  Jeffries took his first balloon observation in 1784.

Those being honored on National Weatherperson’s Day work hard to accurately forecast and report the always changing, and often unpredictable, weather.   With all of the new technological advances, forecasting the weather is still a challenging business.  Predicting “Mother Nature” and what path she may choose, is a very daunting task even with the most state-of-the-art technology.

Knowing the weather forecast is valuable to us in so many ways.  We often look to the forecast to plan our activities for upcoming days.  It affects what we do, how we dress, where we go or even if we go at all.   Being prepared for upcoming storms, hurricanes or tornadoes can save lives.

NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE:

“The primary mission of the Weather Service (NWS) forecast office is to provide the American public with the best possible warning service to save lives.  Recent severe weather statistics show that we continue to improve our capability to warn the public of impending hazardous weather.  Nationally lead time for flash flood warnings improved from 22 minutes in 1993 to 78 minutes in 2008.  Accuracy over the same time period increased from 71 percent to 91 percent.  Lead time for tornado warnings has increased from 6 minutes in 1993 to 13 minutes today.  Tornado warning accuracy increased from 43 percent to 72 percent.  Winter storm accuracy in 2008 was 89 percent with an average lead time of 17 hours.  Since 1990, the Tropical Prediction Center’s 24 to 72 hour tropical storm forecast track errors have been reduced by more than 50%.  These more accurate and longer lead time warnings help communities  stay safe.”

HISTORY

We do know why this particular day was chosen as we have read about Dr. Jeffries. However, research has failed to find the creator of National Weatherperson’s Day.