Milwaukee, Wis. (WMTV) -On this day November 1, 1870, the National Weather Service was established in Milwaukee.

In February of 1870, President Ulysses Grant signed a law that would provide meteorological observations at military stations in order to give notice on the Northern Lakes and Seacoast.

On November 1 in Milwaukee, a new National Weather Bureau was born within the UW Army Signal Service Corps. At the time, it was called “The Division of Telegrams and Reports for the Benefit of Commerce.”

One of Wisconsin’s first scientists, Increase Lapham, made the first forecast a few days later.

Today, the NWS office in Milwaukee is located in Sullivan It provides weather, water and climate data, forecasts and warnings.

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