The history of weather observation - Boise Idaho

"Weather observation in the city of Boise, Idaho spans over 150 years, beginning on 01 February 1864, seven months after the establishment of Fort Boise. The Fort was established on 04 July 1863 to protect settlers traveling the Oregon Trail and nearby mining operations from Indian attacks. As a requirement of their daily duties, the post surgeon at Fort Boise, renamed Boise Barracks in 1879, would take three daily weather observations of temperature, wind, and precipitation which continued uninterrupted through November of 1898. The United States Army's Signal Service and the U.S. Weather Bureau took weather observations from downtown Boise from 1877 through 1939. The U.S. Weather Bureau, now known as the National Weather Service, has taken hourly observations at the Boise Airport on Gowen Field since 1940. The goal of this study is to provide documentation of the official weather observational path in Boise, Idaho as part of the National Weather Service observational program. Only weather observations established as part of the historical record for the National Weather Service in Boise are included in this study, with one exception; a frost and freeze study conducted in 1910 and 1911, which assessed how representative the sheltered roof thermometers on the U.S. Federal Building were to the near surface temperatures at two other locations in Boise. Although not extensively discussed, information on the radiosonde program is provided in Appendix 2. To give even greater context to the weather observations themselves, biographical profiles of some of the earliest observers and meteorologist are also presented"--Introduction 2017 NWS (National Weather Service) WR (Western Region) Library Public Domain 2033