United States Weather Bureau, Seattle Station records, 1883-1973

The United States Weather Bureau Seattle Station is a Federal Bureau of the United States located in Seattle, Washington. George N. Salisbury was the Official in Charge at Seattle from October 1894 through July 1923. He was born in Saratoga, Minnesota on 16 September 1860. He was a graduate of the University of Minnesota and the Fort Myer meteorology school after his enlistment in the Signal Service on 3 July 1863. He spoke French and German, was a translator of German, and had three years of experience in state weather office work in Savannah, Georgia before arriving in Salt Lake City. While in Salt Lake City, the Weather Bureau replaced the Signal Service as the agency for weather observations. Like many others in similar circumstances, Sergeant Salisbury was released from the Army and became a Weather Bureau civilian employee. He thus became the first Weather Bureau official in charge in Salt Lake City in December 1891. He remained in charge there until moving to Seattle.

During his stay in Seattle, Salisbury published two articles in the Monthly Weather Review; one in 1917 and another in 1918. He directed the laboratory work associated with the first meteorology course offered by the University of Washington beginning with the 1905-1906 academic year. In 1910, the course title was changed to climatology with Salisbury still directing the laboratory. His stipend for 1911 was $100 per year for that work.

The assistants who substituted for him during his time included Arthur B. Wollaber (Nov 1899-Feb 1900), William Bell (Aug 1901 and Sep 1904), Lawrence C. Fisher (Jan 1906, Mar 1910–Sep 1910, and Oct 1921), and Frank Gillam (Aug 1910 -May 1911).

Salisbury complained to an inspector in 1915 about the title “Section Director” that the Weather Bureau used for him and others who were in charge of stations. He asked that the title be changed to “Meteorologist.” On 9 October 1915, the head of the Weather Bureau, C. F. Marvin, decreed that change. Thereafter, the title was (and still is) Meteorologist in Charge.

Information obtained from an article titled, "History of Weather Observations, Seattle, Washington 1870-1948" by Glen Conner, https://mrcc.illinois.edu/FORTS/histories/WA_Seattle_Conner.pdf

The Seattle Weather Forecast Office is a part of the Weather Bureau of Seattle’s office for the National Weather Service. The Seattle city office was established in May 1893. Its regional headquarters office occupied the Boeing Field airport site from 1942 to 1944 before moving to the Federal Building downtown. The District Forecast and River District Office, or Weather Forecast Office, was established in 1948 and moved to Sea-Tac Airport in 1949, then returned downtown in 1965. Sea-Tac became a Weather Service Contract Meteorological Observatory in 1981 and the Weather Forecast office moved to the Sand Point area of Seattle in 1982.

The Weather Bureau took over the Signal Service office in Port Angeles in 1892 before relocating to the Norse Building in 1916, and finally to its own facility in 1918. The office was closed in the summer of 1933 and replaced by a separate office on the Coast Guard grounds in 1947, which then closed in 1953.

Tatoosh Island Signal Service was taken over by the Weather Bureau in 1891, continuing as a second-order station, then as a first-order station in 1938. Upper-Air observations began in 1940 and the office was closed in 1966.

Source: https://www.weather.gov/media/ilx/History/washington_wb.pdf [Sourced: May 2023]