The Daily Weather Map has been published continuously
for well over a century. It began as the Washington Daily Weather
Map in the late 1800s at a time when weather maps were published at
most National Weather Service offices (then known as Weather Bureau offices).
See an example from 1899. Today
it is the sole survivor. At one time these maps were a primary information
source to the public. They were published and mailed locally and
received by customers the same day while the meteorological information
was fresh enough to be used to make decisions. By the mid 1900s, mail service
has changed and the Daily Weather Map
was generally received
by customers the next day. The meteorological information was stale
by then and its primary function became that of an archival storage.
Recognizing this, the NWS modified the publication and it became weekly
in the early 1960s and was reduced in size. While there was no longer
any attempt to deliver timely data, the new format was very convenient
for archiving. The weekly version was much smaller in format and
easy to bind into books or store in a loose-leaf binder. The maps could
easily be reviewed by interested individuals and a ready made set of basic
weather charts was widely available for illustrations in publications.
The widespread use of the Internet for the dissemination
of weather information led to changes in the distribution of the Daily
Weather Map. Beginning with the first issue published in 2003, the
Daily Weather Map became available on the Internet for viewing or downloading.
The publication is updated daily during the late morning with
charts from the previous day and is available at our online
Daily Weather Map page. The weekly
printed copy is also available for
download in both color and black and white formats.