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Quick National Weather Service Facts

Quick National Weather Service FactsWhat is the National Weather Service?

The National Weather Service is a Federal agency that is one of the six scientific agencies, which make up the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States Federal Government. The National Weather Service is responsible for providing weather, hydrologic and climate forecasts, as well as warning, for the United States, its controlling territories and ocean areas. This relay of information is undertaken for the protection of life and property, as well as for the enhancement of the national economy.

The National Weather Service conducts and subsequently delivers its reports through a collection of national and regional centers; in total the National Weather Service is comprised of 122 local weather forecast offices.

National Weather Service Quick Facts:

The following details outline the administration of the National Weather Service:

The National Weather Service was formed on February 9 of 1870

The headquarters of the National Weather Service are located in Silver Spring, Maryland

The National Weather Service is responsible for the jurisdiction over the Federal Government of the United States of America

The head of the National Weather Service is Agency Executive Dr. John Hayes

The Parent Agency of the National Weather Service is the National Centers for Environmental Prediction

How does the National Weather Service conduct its Forecasts?



The National Weather Service issues a comprehensive package of forecast products in order to support several users, most notably the general public. Although text forecasts have the primary means of product dissemination, the National Weather Service has recently converted to a more modern, digitalized grid format.

Each of the National Weather Service’s 122 local Weather Forecast Offices relay their graphical forecasts to a national server stored in the National Digital Forecast Database. The database then compiles the information to secure a collection of weather elements for specific regions including: maximum and minimum temperatures, humidity levels, probability of precipitation, cloud cover, amount of precipitation, weather type, wind direction and speed, and wintry precipitation.

Government Agency of the Executive Branch

Government agencies are defined as organizations, councils, and offices operating under the jurisdiction of the Federal Government of the United States of America; each federal agency retains specific administrative jurisdiction over specific facets latent within the operations of the United States Government.

The National Weather Service functions as a government agency under the Executive Branch of the United States government, which is comprised of 3 total branches; in addition to the Executive branch – which is responsible for the regulation and enforcement of operational legislation existing within the United States of America – there also exists the Legislative and Judicial Branches.