Table Of ContentHistorical Essays on Meteorology
1919-1995
The Diamond Anniversary History Volume
of the American Meteorological Society
edited by
James Rodger Fleming
Boston
American Meteorological Society
1996
©Copyright 1996 by the American Meteorological Society.
Permission to use figures, tables, and brief excerpts from
this book in scientific and educational works is hereby
granted provided the source is acknowledged. All rights
reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form
or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
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of the publisher.
The American Meteorological Society
45 Beacon St.
Boston, MA 02108
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Historical Essays on Meteorology, 1919-1995
Edited by James Rodger Fleming
Foreword by Warren M. Washington
(The diamond anniversary history volume of the American
Meteorological Society)
p. 618 em.
ISBN 978-1-940033-84-6 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-940033-84-6
1. Meteorology-History
2. Atmospheric science-History
CIP 96-83535
The paper used in this book meets the minimum requirements of
American National Standard for Information Sciences-Permanence
of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48-1984.
Contents
Foreword-Warren M. Washington v
Acknowledgments lX
Introduction-James R. Fleming XI
Dynamic Meteorology and Numerical
Weather Prediction
1. The Evolution of Dynamic Meteorology 3
Edward N. Lorenz
2. The Origin and Rise of Numerical Weather Prediction 21
George P. Cressman
Observational Tools and
Computational Devices
3. The Evolution of Atmospheric Measurement Systems 43
Robert J. Serafin
4. A Short History of Radar Meteorology 57
R.R. Rogers and P.L. Smith
5. Evolution of Satellite Observations in the United States
and Their Use in Meteorology 99
James F.W. Purdom and W. Paul Menzel
6. A History of Calculating Aids in Meteorology 157
Frederik Nebeker
Cloud Microphysics and Dynamics
7. Formation of Rain: A Historical Perspective 181
Roscoe R. Braham Jr.
8. A History of Research in Cloud Dynamics and Microphysics 225
Harold D. Orville
Hurricanes, Convective Storms, and Lightning
9. A History of Hurricane Forecasting for the Atlantic Basin,
1920-1995 263
Mark DeMaria
10. Severe Convective Storms:
A Brief History of Science and Practice 307
Kenneth C. Crawford and Edwin Kessler
11. 7 5 Years of Research on the Physics of a
Lightning Discharge 321
E. Philip Krider
Climatology and Hydrology
12. Steps in the Evolution of Climatology:
From Descriptive to Analytic 353
John E. Kutzbach
13. Applied Climatology: A Glorious Past, an Uncertain Future 379
Stanley A. Changnon
14. Hydrology in the Twentieth Century 395
Edwin T. Engman
The Private Sector
15. A History of Private Sector Meteorology 417
David B. Spiegler
16. A History of Aeronautical Meteorology:
Personal Perspectives, 1903-1995 443
Gordon D. Cartwright and Charles H. Sprinkle
17. The American Meteorological Society
and the Development of Broadcast Meteorology 481
Roy Leep
Education
18. From Geo- to Physical Science: Meteorology
and the American University, 1919-1945 511
William A. Koelsch
19. Meteorology Education in the United States after 1945 541
David D. Houghton
Special Essays
20. Historical Writing on Meteorology:
An Annotated Bibliography 557
James R. Fleming and Simone L. Kaplan
21. Historical Photo Gallery 581
Julie A. Burba
Notes on Contributors 597
Index 613
Foreword
As part of its 75th Anniversary, the American Meteorological So
ciety (AMS) initiated a history book. This volume of essays chronicles
achievements in the field of meteorology in many specialized areas,
including basic and applied research, the private sector, and education.
From the beginning, the society appealed to a wide spectrum of inter
ests. In addition to meteorologists (both professional and amateur), the
membership included people involved in the practical applications of
weather and climate information to business, commerce, and agricul
ture. That tradition remains today. The first issue of the Bulletin of the
American Meteorological Society (BAMS) captured this sentiment
when it noted that the birth of the AMS, "marked the beginning of a
movement not only to push forward investigations of weather pro
cesses and climate conditions, but also to widen the valuable applica
tions of the knowledge already at hand ... into almost every line of
human endeavor." As this history book well demonstrates, the
founders were futuristic. Meteorology has strongly progressed, both as
a basic and applied science and as a major influence in the develop
ment of electronic computing, remote sensing, and aviation technolo
gies. Information about weather and climate has also found its way
into every sector of the economy. "Surely, the applications of meteo
rology are manifold" (BAMS 1, 1920, 1).
The AMS has grown from about 600 members at its beginning to
approximately 11 000 at the present. The society, through its extensive
committee structure, meetings and publications programs, and helpful
headquarters staff, has also grown in terms of its service to the mem
bers. There are many significant milestones that could be mentioned;
among the most significant are the following.
• 1919-1920: The AMS was organized on 29 December 1919 at a
meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of
Science in St. Louis, Missouri. It was incorporated three weeks
later, on 21 January 1920, in Washington, D.C. The original
v
vi HISTORICAL ESSAYS ON METEOROLOGY
constitution and by-laws are quite similar to today's, providing
for different grades of membership, the election of officers, the
governing Council, the meeting structure, the publications, and
the various committees. The first volume of BAMS was pub
lished in 1920 to keep the society informed of new developments.
(See BAMS 26, 1945, 163-170.)
• 1938: The awards program began with the Clarence Leroy Meis
inger Award.
• 1944: The society was reorganized to give increased emphasis to
being a scientific, professional organization. This was under
taken by presidents C.-G. Rossby and H.G. Houghton. As part of
the process of professionalization the Journal of Meteorology
was initiated.
• 1946: Because of the rapid growth of the field during and after
World War II, the society required a formal directorate to coor
dinate its many activities. This was established in Boston with
Ken Spengler as the first executive secretary.
• 1950-1951: Meteorological Abstracts and Bibliography was
started under the editorship of Malcom Rigby with the purpose
of making available citations to all the literature in meteorology
and related fields. In 1951 the Compendium of Meteorology was
published by a committee chaired by H. G. Houghton. The editor
was Tom Malone, who stated that the purpose was to "take stock
of the present position of meteorology . . . and to indicate the
avenues of further study and research which needed to be ex
plored in order to extend the frontiers of our knowledge."
• 1957: The Certified Consulting Meteorologist program was es
tablished as was the AMS Seal of Approval for broadcast mete
orologists.
• 1959: The Glossary of Meteorology was published to standardize
the definitions of terms used in the field. A new version of the
Glossary is currently being prepared by the society.
• 1960: The AMS moved into their historic home at 45 Beacon
Street, overlooking Boston Common. The house was designed by
Charles Bulfinch, architect of the Massachusetts State House
and the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. It was originally
the residence of Harrison Gray Otis, who served as mayor of
Boston and then as a U.S. senator. The society raised funds from
its members to help renovate the building and restore it to its
FOREWORD Vll
former elegance. (See BAMS 41, 1960, 507-517 and BAMS 62,
1981, 493-497). The society was further reorganized under the
leadership of president T. Malone with the initial draft prepared
by P.D. McTaggart-Cowan. Committee and commission struc
tures were revamped to keep the society in step with the times.
By 1968, Council membership was expanded to allow for repre
sentation from hydrology, aeronomy, and oceanography.
• 1962: The Journal of the Atmospheric Sciences and the Journal
of Applied Meteorology were formed from the Journal of Meteo
rology.
• 1964-1965: The Council developed a series of extensive educa
tion programs including films, popular books, a visiting foreign
scientist program, career guidance materials, support for sci
ence fairs, and a special program to introduce high school stu
dents to the field. A year later a curriculum guide for students in
the atmospheric sciences was developed. This guide is still being
published biannually (now in conjunction with the University
Corporation for Atmospheric Research), and educational out
reach programs are still a prominent part of AMS.
• 1971-1988: The Journal of Physical Oceanography was estab
lished in 1971, and the hundred-year-old Monthly Weather Re
view was converted from a government publication to an AMS
journal in 197 4. The growth of AMS journals continued in the
1980s with the addition of the Journal of Atmospheric and Oce
anic Technology (1984), Weather and Forecasting (1986), and the
Journal of Climate (1988). In 1988 Richard Hallgren became the
society's second executive director.
The essays in this 75th anniversary history book do not focus on
the history of the AMS. Rather, they concern the overall intellectual
and institutional development of meteorology in the twentieth century.
They constitute a rich sampling of what has been learned, where we
stand, and where we might be going-in research, in education, and in
the private sector. Each was written by a recognized authority in the
field. The AMS was fortunate to obtain the editorship of James R.
Fleming for the 75th Anniversary history volume. His professional
background in the history of science and technology contributed both
rigor and clarity to the historical essays. He has worked closely with
the contributors to help tie the chapters together and make the various
viii HisTORICAL EssAYS oN METEOROLOGY
historical aspects more accurate. As you read this book, keep in mind
that this is a book of meteorological discovery and innovation. Impor
tant factors for continued discovery and innovation are to be found in
understanding the history of our field. Historical Essays on Meteorol
ogy, 1919-1995, The Diamond Anniversary Volume of the American
Meteorological Society, is a welcome addition to that history, and the
AMS is proud to sponsor it.
Warren M. Washington
President of the American Meteorological Society, 1994
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Many people were involved in producing a book such as this. Spe
cial thanks are due Richard Hallgren, executive director of AMS; War
ren Washington, president of AMS in 1994; and the members of the
Council who supported this project from beginning to end. I also thank
the AMS Committee on the History of the Atmospheric Sciences,
chaired by Professor Robert Fleagle, and the program chairs of the
individual conferences for inviting speakers to the AMS diamond an
niversary meeting and for generating an enormous amount of goodwill
and enthusiasm for the book project. Appreciation is due each of the
individual authors and their support networks for their perseverance
and goodwill through the editorial process.
Friends a tAMS-Ken Spengler, Evelyn Mazur, and Barry Mohan
provided valuable support and encouragement for this project, as did
William Kellogg, the new chair of the Committee on the History of the
Atmospheric Sciences.
Preparation of the manuscript was facilitated by Alice Ridky, Bev
erly Eaton, and my research students Simone Kaplan and Amy Lyons
at Colby College. The volume's final form is a result of my hard-work
ing and most professional colleagues in the publications department at
AMS-Keith Seitter, Melissa Weston, Marianne Simas-Valcich, Patri
cia English, Irwin Abrams, Gary Gorski, and Julie Burba.
I would be remiss if I failed to acknowledge the sacrifices made by
my wife Miyoko and my sons Jamitto and Jason while I was preoccu
pied with manuscript and pencil.
