The Global Gen World

The use of scientific methods for weather forecasting did not begin until the 19th century. Before the laws of physics came to be understood, good or bad weather was believed to be a reward or punishment bestowed by the gods. Scientific weather forecasting commenced sometime after the telegraph was invented and after an agreement was forged among several countries to exchange weather reports according to a prescribed plan. Advances in the field of forecasting were quite slow in coming.

Sometime in 1920, two Norwegian meteorologists produced the so-called frontal theory of lows. After which, a British mathematician proposed weather prediction through numerical process. However, the facilities needed to concretize his ideas did not yet exist during that time. The invention of the radiosonde and radar marked an advance in the field. With the introduction of computers, numerical forecasting became practicable.