Description

The organizational regulations for Hungary's first independent meteorological scientific institute were prepared by Guidó Schenzl and János Hunfalvy and discussed at a Hungarian Academy of Sciences meeting on April 6, 1868. King Francis Joseph I established the Meteorological and Geodetic Royal Hungarian Central Institute on April 8, 1870. The institute was located at the Budai Főreáliskola, where meteorological measurements had been conducted since 1861. Hungary joined the World Meteorological Organization (WMO) in 1893, facilitating standardized global observations and communication.

Meteorology's significance grew during wartime, especially from 1939, as weather forecasts became crucial for military operations. Despite bomb hits on its central building, the institute continued to operate throughout the war. Initially supervised by the Ministry of Agriculture until 1950 and then by the Ministry of Defense, the institute's focus on geomagnetism was removed, and it was renamed the National Meteorological Institute (OMI).

In 1970, the institution was restructured and renamed the National Meteorological Service, comprising three internal branches: the Central Forecasting Institute, the Central Meteorological Institute, and the Central Atmospheric Physics Institute.

Engraver: Mercédesz Molnár