NWS Jacksonville, FL

The original weather agency operated under the War Department from 1870-1891 with headquarters in Washington , DC, and field offices concentrated mainly east of the Rockies. Little meteorological science was used to make weather forecasts during those early days. Instead, weather that occurred at one location was assumed to move into the next area downstream.

From 1891 to 1940, the Weather Bureau was part of the Department of Agriculture. The first two decades of the 20th century had a remarkable effect on the nation's meteorological services. In 1902, Weather Bureau forecasts were sent via wireless telegraphy to ships at sea. In turn, the first wireless weather report was received from a ship at sea in 1905. Two years later, the daily exchange of weather observations with Russia and eastern Asia was inaugurated.

In 1910, the Weather Bureau began issuing weekly outlooks to aid agricultural planning. And in 1913, the first fire-weather forecast was issued. During these times, weather forecasters began using more sophisticated methods including surface weather observations, and upper atmosphere observations using kites and later airplanes and finally balloons (these “upper-air” observations were used to measure temperature, relative humidity and winds in the upper atmosphere).

Realizing that the weather service played an important role for the aviation community, and therefore commerce, in 1940, President Franklin D. Roosevelt transferred the Weather Bureau to the Department of Commerce where it remains today. During the late 1940s, the military gave the Weather Bureau a new and valuable tool - 25 surplus radars - thus launching the network of weather surveillance radars still in use today. In 1970, the name of the Weather Bureau was changed to the National Weather Service (NWS), and the agency became a component of the Commerce Department's newly created National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The advent of the computer technology in the 1950s paved the way for the formulation of complex mathematical weather models, resulting in a significant increase in forecast accuracy. Today the National Weather Service is at the brink of a meteorological evolution. Advances in satellites, radars, sophisticated information processing and communication systems, automated weather observing systems and superspeed computers are the centerpieces of the National Weather Service modernization program that will result in more timely and precise severe weather and flood warnings for the nation.

Brief History of the National Weather Service Office in Jacksonville

Through the years the U.S. Weather Bureau/National Weather Service Office has been located at various sites in the Jacksonville area. Weather Records were begun by the U.S. Army Signal Corps in 1871. Previous to that temperatures were recorded by reliable observers from 1829, and rainfall from 1851*. Breaks in the record occurred during the Indian Wars and the War between the States.

Location	Occupied from	Ocuppied to	Remarks
1. Masonic Hall (NE corner of Main & Bay Streets)	September 13, 1871	September 19, 1871	Barometer received September 17, 1871; not installed at this location
2. Freedman's Bank Building (Main & Forsyth Streets)	September 20, 1871	July 21, 1880	Thermometers in window shelter 20 feet above the ground, raingage on roof 64 feet above the ground, anemometer between 75 and 90 feet above the ground
3. Astor Building, 138 W. Bay Street (SE corner Bay & Hogan Streets)	July 22, 1880	July 31, 1902	Thermometers in window shelter 30 feet above the ground July 1880-Sept. 1886; in roof shelter 69 feet above the ground, Oct. 1886-July 1902. Tipping Bucket Raingage installed March 4, 1891
4. Dyal-Upchurch Building (SE corner of Main & Bay Streets)	August 1, 1902	January 3, 1915	Thermometers in roof shelter 100 feet above the ground. Office burned Jan. 3, 1915
5. 30 South Main Street	January 4, 1915	January 31, 1915	No instruments installed. Readings taken from Kiosk instruments in Hemming Park
6. Heard National Bank Building (later known as the Graham Building, SW corner of Forsyth & Laura Streets)	February 1, 1915	December 31, 1933	Thermometers in roof shelter 209 feet above the ground, anemometer height 245 feet
7. US Court House & Post Office Bldg (315 W Monroe Street, Rm 532)	January 1, 1934	May 21, 1956	Thermometers in roof shelter 86 feet above the ground. This office was combined with Airport office at Imeson Field in January 1956
8. Jacksonville Municipal Airport Imeson Field	October 31, 1930 October 17, 1941	October 17, 1941 January 19, 1971	Station history shows that the Airport Office, 7 miles north of the Post Office, may have actually opened in 1928. For a period (1930-1940) temperature, rainfall wind and sunshine records continued at the city office, with barometer and humidity data compiled for the airport only. The Airport office became the synoptic station for Jacksonville, July 1, 1940 - temperature and precipitation records continued at the city office, but wind, sunshine, barometer, and humidity data began being recorded at the airport office. The city office and airport office were combined at the airport in January 1956
9. Jacksonville International Airport	January 19, 1971 January 19, 1995	January 19, 1995 Present	The Weather Office moved from Imeson Airport to Jacksonville International Airport (2300 Barnstormer Road) on January 19, 1970. The Weather Office moved to the northwest side of Jacksonville International Airport (13701 FANG Drive) on January 19, 1995. This new office was equipped with the WSR-88D Doppler Weather Radar. The Upper-Air program was transferred from the WSMO Waycross, Georgia on January 25, 1995. ASOS took the replaced manual observations March 1, 1996

The new National Weather Service office in Jacksonville was dedicated to the memory of a former Meteorologist-in-Charge, Walter James Bennett. Mr. Bennett gave almost 50 years of service to the American public as a U.S. Weather Bureau employee. He started his Weather Bureau career on April 15, 1900. He served at offices near San Francisco, California, Louisville, Kentucky; Washington, D.C.; Charlotte, North Carolina; Canton, New York; and Tampa, Florida before becoming Meteorologist-in-Charge of the Jacksonville Weather Bureau Office in 1932.

As a meteorologist, Mr. Bennett was well known throughout the United States, and his forecasting abilities are legendary in the Jacksonville area. The Jacksonville news media also relied heavily upon his extreme meteorological knowledge, especially with respect to hurricanes. He attended the University of Cincinnati and George Washington University where he graduated in 1905. His meteorological interests were broad. He studied such a topics as the effect of sunspots on weather patterns, the developing science of upper air meteorology, and the use of radar in understanding atmospheric processes in hurricanes. He published scientific articles in various journals including the Monthly Weather Review.

While in charge of the Canton, New York Office, Mr. Bennett also taught at St. Lawrence University. His son, Charles Bennett (later to be a long-serving U.S. Congressional Representative for Jacksonville and north Florida), was born in the Weather Bureau Office in Canton. In 1913 Walter Bennett presaged one of the earliest links between aviation and meteorology by assisting in the formation of a commercial airline between St. Petersburg and Tampa, Florida. He was also in charge of the Jacksonville office when it was established as one of the first Hurricane Forecast offices in the country in 1935.

When Walter J. Bennett retired in 1949, he was honored by his peers, the media, and the public. The Secretary of Commerce came to Jacksonville to participate in the retirement ceremonies. Looking back on his career, Bennett told his son, "...I have not set the world on fire but no one has ever been the worse because of me." The Florida Times Union offered the following tribute: “Walter Bennett was a weatherman who lived close to GOD.”.