Servicio Meteorológico Nacional (Argentina)

The National Weather Service (Spanish: Servicio Meteorológico Nacional) is an Argentine government agency under the Ministry of Defense that is tasked with observing, understanding, and predicting the weather and climate in Argentina and its surrounding waters. It provides weather forecasts, radar images, ozone, temperature and rainfall graphs, and satellite images. The purpose of these tasks is to contribute to protection of its inhabitants, sustainable economic development and to provide representation of Argentina to international meteorological organizations.

Founded on 4 October 1872 by Federal law Nº559 during the presidency of Domingo Faustino Sarmiento, the organisation was the first meteorological organisation in South America and the third one in the world, after Hungary and the United States which were created in 1870 and 1871 respectively. It became a member of the World Meteorological Organization on 2 January 1951. Throughout its history, the organisation was dependent under different government ministries until in 2007 when it is currently under the Ministry of Defense.