NWS Green Bay History

The History of the National Weather Service in Green Bay

1886 - The Green Bay office of the U.S. Weather Bureau was established in the Jacobs House at 212 North Washington Street in downtown Green Bay, by Private Charles Kitchell of the Army Signal Service.

1891 - The office moved a few blocks to 324 N. Washington Street.

1910 - The office was relocated to the Minahan Building, 210 E. Walnut Street.

1942 - The first woman at the Green Bay office was hired.

1945 - The office moved to the Jones Warehouse, 404 Henry Street.

1949 - The office moved to the Hangar Building at Green Bay's Austin Straubel Airport. An upper air balloon station was eventually established at this location.

1963 - The office moved from the Hangar Building to the Administration Building at the airport.

1989 - Remodeling of the airport terminal made another move necessary. Since plans were in the works for a new building (to be constructed in 1993-94), a temporary building was erected across from the airport.

1994 - Modernization and Restructuring resulted in a new office for the WFO near Austin Straubel Airport, on South Point Road.

1994 - Installation of the WSR-88D radar began in August 1994. The radar was officially commissioned on July 26, 1995.

1994 - The WFO assumed warning and short-term forecast responsibility for 22 counties in northeast Wisconsin on December 1, 1994.

1996 - The Automated Surface Observing System (ASOS) at the Green Bay airport was commissioned on July 1, 1996. Automated weather observations were augmented by NWS employees.

1999 - NOAA Weather Radio 2000 and automated weather radio broadcasts debuted in February 1999.

1999 - The Advanced Weather Interactive Processing System (AWIPS) was installed in April 1999.

1999 - WFO Green Bay officially assumed full forecast responsibility for 22 counties in northeast Wisconsin on June 15, 1999.

2013 - The WSR-88D radar was upgraded to Dual Polarization in May 2013.

2015 - The next generation AWIPS (AWIPS II) was installed in May 2015.

WSMO Neenah (EEW) - The Meteorological Observatory in Neenah was the home of the WSR-57C network radar that operated from November 1971 to November 1995.