Albert Myer

Guest Post by Kayla Berendt

Albert Myer was in the US Army during the Civil War. He devised the wig-wag-signaling during the Civil War, which led to him becoming the Chief Signal Officer of the Signal Corps. After the Civil War ended, he was nominated to be ranked Brigadier General by President Andrew Johnson. When the U.S. Weather Bureau was created, it was put under the U.S. Signal Services Division, which put Albert Myer in control of it. He hired Increase, Lapham who laid down the groundwork for producing the first official forecast. Myer was Chief Signal Officer until 1880. Although Albert Myer and Increase Lapham didn’t always see eye-to-eye, they were important historical figures in the first forecast.