NOAA, NWS, & Florida Keys History

History of the NOAA Florida Keys NWS Banner

A NOAA Heritage Program project highlighting the
rich cultural and weather history of the Keys and
NOAA's presence and technological advancements

United States Weather Agency Logos Animated GIF

In May 2021, your Florida Keys National Weather Service Forecast Office unveiled a project eighteen months in the making -- a NOAA Heritage Program funded timeline art installation.

Since 2005, the NOAA Heritage Program has funded dozens of small projects led by NOAA staff from every line and from around the country. They have ranged from creating visualizations of NOAA data for outreach, to interpreting NOAA's historic and cultural resources, to capturing oral histories of NOAA employees and its constituents.

The Florida Keys NWS used this unique funding opportunity to highlight the history of NOAA and NWS in the Florida Keys -- a history that dates back to the mid 1800s -- and to showcase NOAA’s technological advancements, as well as significant events in Keys’ history.

This online StoryMap version of the timeline allowed us to add more details and photographs to some of the events on the timeline and will also help reach more people, as we all know fans of the Florida Keys stretch far and wide!

(Click the link above or scan the QR code to see the StoryMap version of the project!)

A PDF of the timeline is also available for download by clicking here.

The Installation! Section Header

Physical timeline display located in the Florida Keys NWS Weather Forecast Office

The office team! Section Header

The office team for this project consisted of meteorologists:
Nancy Barnhardt
Katherine Lenninger
David Ross

NOAA Heritage Program Project Team Photo
Project Team (left to right): David Ross, Nancy Barnhardt, & Katherine Lenninger

Florida Keys NWS Office Logo

US Army Signal Corps Emblem US Weather Bureau Logo - Department of Agriculture National Weather Service Logo

Thank you, partners! Section Header

We’d like to extend our sincerest appreciation to our partners for this project. This was truly a group effort and would not have been possible without your help and extensive resources!

Our partners:

NOAA's Heritage Program
NOAA’s Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary
Monroe County Emergency Management
Monroe County Public Library
Florida Keys History and Discovery Center

Learn more about the NOAA Heritage Program and past projects here: preserveamerica.noaa.gov

Additional NOAA Heritage Information can be found here: noaa.gov/our-history