The convention creating the World Meteorological Organization came into force, transforming an earlier voluntary body into a specialized United Nations agency tasked with coordinating global weather observation, climate research, and disaster warning systems. The date is now marked annually as World Meteorological Day.
Weather does not respect borders, and by the mid-20th century scientists recognized that forecasting and climate study required international cooperation on a scale no single nation could manage alone. The International Meteorological Organization, a loose voluntary association founded in the 19th century, was reorganized into a formal intergovernmental body.
When the founding convention took effect, the new World Meteorological Organization gained authority to standardize observation methods, coordinate data sharing between national weather services, and later became a specialized agency of the United Nations.
The organization's work has since expanded far beyond daily forecasts to encompass climate change monitoring, early warning systems for cyclones and tsunamis, and coordination of satellite weather data that now underpins nearly every national forecasting service on Earth. Each March 23rd is now celebrated as World Meteorological Day, marking the anniversary with a different climate or weather theme.