International Meteorological Organization

The International Meteorological Organization (1873–1951) was the first organization formed with the purpose of exchanging weather information among the countries of the world. It came into existence from the realization that weather systems move across country boundaries; and that knowledge of pressure, temperature, precipitations, etc. upstream and downstream is needed for weather forecasting. It was superseded by the World Meteorological Organization

There had been significant developments in meteorology in the 19th century. C. H. D. Buys Ballot's 1872 paper Suggestions on a Uniform System of Meteorological Observations led to the idea of forming the International Meteorological Organization in 1873.

Matthew Fontaine Maury, of the US Navy, initiated the convening of the first true International Meteorological conference from late August through early September 1853. The Conference opened its proceedings at Brussels, Belgium, on the 23d August 1853, in the residence of M. Piercot, the Minister of the Interior. The Governments represented at the first International Conference, and the names of the officers who attended were :

This meeting was followed by an International Meteorological Congress in Vienna, Austria-Hungary, in September 1873 which agreed to prepare for an International Meteorological Organization (IMO). The members of that organization would be the directors of national meteorological services. A Permanent Meteorological Committee was established with Buys Ballot, director of the Dutch meteorological service, becoming the first president.

A second congress in Rome 1879 decided on the IMO establishment and elected an International Meteorological Committee to prepare for the next Conference of Directors. There was however no separate funding. Also the directors agreed on a collaborative research effort with the International Polar Year 1882-1883. The first International Meteorological Tables were published in 1889.

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