It's National Weatherperson Day!

Today is National Weatherperson Day... no really! American Greetings didn't make this one up. For a little history on the day, read the following compiled by the National Weather Service in State College, PA, home to one of the largest crops of meteorologists outside the state of Oklahoma - Penn State University.  Our comments on the day appear below this historical perspective.

THE DAY COMMEMORATES THE BIRTH OF JOHN JEFFRIES IN 1744.
JEFFRIES... ONE OF AMERICAS FIRST WEATHER OBSERVERS...
BEGAN TAKING DAILY WEATHER OBSERVATIONS IN BOSTON IN 1774
AND HE TOOK THE FIRST BALLOON OBSERVATION IN 1784.

THIS IS A DAY TO RECOGNIZE THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO COLLECTIVELY
PROVIDE AMERICANS WITH THE BEST WEATHER... WATER... AND CLIMATE
FORECASTS AND WARNING SERVICES OF ANY NATION.

MANY OF US TAKE WEATHER INFORMATION FOR GRANTED. TURN ON A LIGHT
SWITCH... YOU GET LIGHT. TURN ON YOUR TELEVISION OR RADIO...
OR CHECK A WEB SITE AND YOU GET THE WEATHER FORECAST. IT IS EASY
TO FORGET THAT AROUND THE CLOCK... DEDICATED METEOROLOGISTS...
HYDROLOGISTS... TECHNICIANS AND WEATHERCASTERS ARE VIGILANTLY
CREATING FORECASTS TO HELP YOU PLAN YOUR DAY... AND ISSUING
WARNINGS TO HELP KEEP YOU SAFE.

THE MEN AND WOMEN AT YOUR LOCAL NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE FORECAST
OFFICE GATHER THE RAW WEATHER DATA... ANALYZE THE DATA...
AND STUDY NUMERICAL COMPUTER MODELS IN ORDER TO ISSUE THE WEATHER
AND RIVER FORECASTS AND WARNINGS TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY.

SPECIALIZED MARINE AND AVIATION FORECASTS HELP ENHANCE
THE NATIONAL ECONOMY. SPOT FORECASTS HELP FIREFIGHTERS CONTROL
WILDFIRES AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS CONTAIN HAZARDOUS
CHEMICAL SPILLS. EXTENSIVE CLIMATE RECORDS HELP ENGINEERS...
ARCHITECTS... RESEARCHERS... INSURANCE COMPANIES AND UTILITIES.

THE PRIMARY MISSION OF THE NWS 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 14 MINUTES
TODAY. TORNADO WARNING ACCURACY INCREASED FROM 43 PERCENT TO 72
PERCENT. WINTER STORM ACCURACY IN 2010 WAS 90 PERCENT WITH AN
AVERAGE LEAD TIME OF 21 HOURS. SINCE 1990... THE TROPICAL
PREDICTION CENTER 24 TO 72 HOUR TROPICAL STORM FORECAST TRACK
ERRORS HAVE BEEN REDUCED BY MORE THAN 50 PERCENT. THESE MORE
ACCURATE AND LONGER LEAD TIME WARNINGS HELP COMMUNITIES STAY SAFE.

THE NWS COULD NOT ACCOMPLISH ITS MISSION WITHOUT A DIVERSE GROUP
OF PARTNERS HELPING IN THE PROCESS.

NATIONWIDE... MORE THAN 11000 VOLUNTEER COOPERATIVE OBSERVERS TAKE
REGULAR MEASUREMENTS OF TEMPERATURE... PRECIPITATION AND OTHER
DATA... WHICH IS USED BY FORECASTERS AND CLIMATOLOGISTS. NEARLY
300000 VOLUNTEER STORM SPOTTERS ARE TRAINED BY THE NWS TO PROVIDE
VISUAL REPORTS OF SEVERE WEATHER CONDITIONS TO FORECAST OFFICES
AND LOCAL EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT OFFICIALS. VOLUNTEER AMATEUR RADIO
OPERATORS PROVIDE CRITICAL EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS DURING SEVERE
WEATHER.

MOST OF THE COLORFUL WEATHER GRAPHICS SEEN ON TELEVISION
AND IN NEWSPAPERS COME FROM ANOTHER MEMBER OF THE AMERICAS
WEATHER TEAM. COMMERCIAL WEATHER COMPANIES ENHANCE
THE PRESENTATION OF THE NWS DATA AND INFORMATION FOR THEIR
CLIENTS IN THE MEDIA AND IN MANY WEATHER-SENSITIVE INDUSTRIES...
AND PROVIDE CUSTOMIZED FORECASTS AND SERVICES FOR CLIENTS.

FINALLY... TELEVISION WEATHERCASTERS ARE THE MOST VISIBLE MEMBERS
OF AMERICAS WEATHER TEAM. THEY ARE THE TRUSTED FACES MANY PEOPLE
TURN TO FOR WEATHER INFORMATION... AND THEY RELAY THE OFFICIAL NWS
WATCHES AND WARNINGS FOR HAZARDOUS WEATHER.

ON NATIONAL WEATHERPERSONS DAY... THE NWS WOULD LIKE TO THANK ALL
OF THE VOLUNTEERS AND OUR PARTNERS IN TELEVISION AND COMMERCIAL
WEATHER SERVICES. THANK YOU AND HAPPY WEATHERPERSON DAY.

I'd like to take echo the NWS sentiments.  Thank you all for making MemphisWeather.net one of your trusted weather sources!  Your feedback (positive and negative) energizes us and allows MWN to bring you the best weather information available for Memphis and the Mid-South.  Social media provides an outlet for instant feedback so that we can refine our processes even during severe weather events. We can't thank you enough for following along and keeping us motivated!

MemphisWeather.net was founded many years ago, but our parent organization, Cirrus Weather Solutions, was founded 2 years ago today.  There is symbolism in choosing that day - which was not only National Weatherperson's Day, but the two-year anniversary of the Super Tuesday Tornado Outbreak of 2008 that killed three Memphians and injured many more (click here for our retrospective look at that fateful day).  We use our platform to try and ensure that that never happens again.

So while you are munching on chips and dip or eating wings by the dozen and watching a "Super" football game today, take a moment to remember that "Super" Tuesday of four years ago and thank your local weatherperson for their tireless efforts to keep you safe from the storm.

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