History of the National Weather Service in Shreveport
The National Weather Service in Shreveport is now located on Hollywood Avenue. It's the fourteenth move in 134 years of operations. The last move took place in 1995. As in all previous moves, this one from the Old Airport Terminal Building, was a short one--less than one mile. Doppler radar and the upper-air observing equipment are co-located with the office. The Shreveport office has forecast and warning responsibility for forty-eight counties and parishes across the Four State Area: Northwest and North Central Louisiana, Northeast Texas, Southwest Arkansas, and extreme Southeast Oklahoma.
The first three weather observers began on September 2, 1871. They were assigned to the 74th Calvary of the U.S. Army, and their names and ranks are as follows:
Sgt. Frank Fletcher
Sgt. Hugh Coyle
Sgt. James O'Doyd
On December 12, 1872, Private A. M. Geissinger became the first person assigned by the Signal Corps, specifically assigned to the Shreveport office. He was a Northerner, and consequently, was refused stage coach transportation from Monroe to Shreveport. The railroad line from Monroe to Vicksburg to Shreveport (then, the Vicksburg, Shreveport, and Pacific Railroad) had yet to be constructed.
The first official U.S. Weather Bureau observer under the United States Department of Agriculture was M. J. Wright in 1891. He did not even serve one year at the Shreveport office.
Sgt. Hugh Coyle, listed above, died at his desk while on duty from the Great Yellow Fever Outbreak of 1873 in Shreveport.
In 1890, by executive order, the Organic Act established daily weather observations at all Signal Corps posts. The act also made the government responsible for all storm warnings. On July 1, 1891, the U.S. Weather Bureau was founded under the direction of the Department of Agriculture. Many of the older weather observers were discharged from the army and transferred to the Weather Bureau to maintain continuity.
A milestone for the legal community occurred in 1892 when, for the first time, weather records were used in court in Shreveport for a murder trial.
The observing site remained in Downtown Shreveport at various locations in and around the old Post Office until 1941. On October 6, 1941, the Weather Bureau moved to the Airport Administration Building at the Downtown Airport. Due to the growing aviation concerns, the Weather Bureau was transferred to the Department of Commerce by Franklin D. Roosevelt on June 30, 1940. The first aviation observations in Shreveport were taken in 1937. The next move occurred on July 6, 1952, to the Greater Shreveport Municipal Airport (renamed Regional Airport in 1971). The last move was on February 2, 1995.
Through the years, the Weather Service has gone from one daily surface weather map to hourly weather observation, twice daily upper air observations, radar, satellite, and computer models. The first upper air observations in the Shreveport area were at Barksdale Air Force Base in 1951. These were transferred to the Regional Airport in 1956, then to Longview, TX, in 1975, and now back to Shreveport in 1995. The original tracking equipment is still with us. The first radar was a World War II surplus WSR-1, which went into operation in 1953. This radar was later upgraded, and the old radar was de-commissioned in October 1995. Also, communications have gone from telegraph to teletype to the current computer system. The late 1970s saw the advent of NOAA All Hazards Weather Radio. Now, warnings are available to the public in only a matter of seconds after the decision is made to warn.
Being on the fringe of Tornado Alley, the National Weather Service in Shreveport has been on the forefront of service to the public. In 1948, Shreveport was one of the first offices to organize a severe storm network for both river and local storms. The first film about tornadoes, their development, and warnings, was developed by the Weather Bureau in Shreveport in conjunction with United Gas Company in 1955. In 1972, Shreveport was recognized with the most comprehensive storm spotter network, which included ham radio operators and local officials in every county and parish. During the past few decades, the Weather Service in Shreveport has received five NOAA Unit Citations.
Follow us on X
Follow us on Facebook
Follow us on YouTube
SHV RSS Feed