Oliver Lanard Fassig was an American meteorologist and climatologist who worked for the United States Weather Bureau initially as part of the Signal Corps of the United States War Department and later affiliated with the United States Department of Agriculture

United States Department of Agriculture

The United States Department of Agriculture is the United States federal executive department responsible for developing and executing U.S. federal government policy on farming, agriculture, and food...

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Oliver Lanard Fassig was born at Columbus, Ohio

Columbus, Ohio

Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city...

, on April 5, 1860, son of Mathias and Elizabeth (Lanard) Fassig. He attended Ohio State University

Ohio State University

The Ohio State University, commonly referred to as Ohio State, is a public research university located in Columbus, Ohio. It was originally founded in 1870 as a land-grant university and is currently the third largest university campus in the United States...

 and received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1882. He then studied at Johns Hopkins University

Johns Hopkins University

The Johns Hopkins University, commonly referred to as Johns Hopkins, JHU, or simply Hopkins, is a private research university based in Baltimore, Maryland, United States...

 under the guidance of American geologist William Bullock Clark

William Bullock Clark

William Bullock Clark, Ph. D., LL.D , was an American geologist.He was born at Brattleboro, Vermont, and educated at Amherst College and in Munich...

, where in 1899 he received the first PhD in meteorology ever earned in the United States. His doctoral thesis was on the broad pressure relations of distinctive types of March weather over North America. On September 14, 1898, he married Ann Green McCoy, of Annapolis, Maryland

Annapolis, Maryland

Annapolis is the capital of the U.S. state of Maryland, as well as the county seat of Anne Arundel County. It had a population of 38,394 at the 2010 census and is situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east of Washington, D.C. Annapolis is...

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Meteorological Service

Dr. Fasssig's official meteorological service began on January 12, 1883, when he entered the Signal Corps of the United States War Department in Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C.

Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....

  In May 1883, he was assigned to Fort Myer

Fort Myer

Fort Myer is a U.S. Army post adjacent to Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington County, Virginia, across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C. It is a small post by U.S...

 in Arlington County, Virginia

Arlington County, Virginia

Arlington County is a county in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The land that became Arlington was originally donated by Virginia to the United States government to form part of the new federal capital district. On February 27, 1801, the United States Congress organized the area as a subdivision of...

 for instruction, but returned to the Central Office for duty in January 1884. In December 1885, he was sent to New Haven, Connecticut

New Haven, Connecticut

New Haven is the second-largest city in Connecticut and the sixth-largest in New England. According to the 2010 Census, New Haven's population increased by 5.0% between 2000 and 2010, a rate higher than that of the State of Connecticut, and higher than that of the state's five largest cities, and...

 to work as an assistant and study electrical methods at Yale University

Yale University

Yale University is a private, Ivy League university located in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States...

. In August 1887 he returned to the Central Office in Washington, D.C., where he worked as a bibliographer and librarian from June 1888 to February 1896. In 1889, he published an extensive bibliography titled the “Bibliography of Meteorology – A classed catalogue of the printed literature of meteorology from the origin of printing to the close of 1881”. He then served as an assistant in Philadelphia, Baltimore

Baltimore

Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...

, and at Mount Weather

Mount Weather

The Mount Weather Emergency Operations Center is a civilian command facility in Virginia, U.S. used as the center of operations for the Federal Emergency Management Agency...

, which is located in the Blue Ridge Mountains

Blue Ridge Mountains

The Blue Ridge Mountains are a physiographic province of the larger Appalachian Mountains range. This province consists of northern and southern physiographic regions, which divide near the Roanoke River gap. The mountain range is located in the eastern United States, starting at its southern-most...

 of Virginia

Virginia

The Commonwealth of Virginia , is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" after the eight U.S. presidents born there...

. He was made chairman of the section on History and Bibliography of the International Meteorological Congress, Chicago

Chicago

Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...

 in 1893. His contacts with meteorologists from abroad led him to take a year's leave of absence to study in Germany, 1896-7, where he took special courses at the University of Berlin and became a member of the German Meteorological Society. He was in charge of the Baltimore station from June 5, 1900 to July 14, 1905; May 31, 1907 to April 2, 1909, and August 10, 1912 to April 14, 1919. While in Baltimore

Baltimore

Baltimore is the largest independent city in the United States and the largest city and cultural center of the US state of Maryland. The city is located in central Maryland along the tidal portion of the Patapsco River, an arm of the Chesapeake Bay. Baltimore is sometimes referred to as Baltimore...

, he gave instruction in meteorology at the Johns Hopkins University and wrote "The Climate and Weather of Baltimore". He was in charge of the station at San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan, Puerto Rico

San Juan , officially Municipio de la Ciudad Capital San Juan Bautista , is the capital and most populous municipality in Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the United States. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 395,326 making it the 46th-largest city under the jurisdiction of...

, from April 2, 1909 to August 10, 1912, and April 14, 1919 to June 10, 1930, where he had general charge of the West Indian and Caribbean service. On leaving San Juan he came once more to the Central Office, this time as Chief of the Climatological Division, which position he retained until his retirement on June 30, 1932.

Dr. Fassig was a quiet, unassuming, unhurried scientist. His interests embraced many phases of science. Absolute fairness and sympathetic understanding characterized his dealings not only with his equals but with those under him. He had the courage to do what he thought right even at considerable personal sacrifice, as when he refused to enter politics on behalf of his chief.

Dr. Fassig died at the Emergency Hospital in Washington, D.C. on Sunday evening, December 6, 1936, as a result of being struck by an automobile on November 20, 1936.

List of Publications

1. Fassig, O.L. 1889. Bibliography of Meteorology. United States of America War Department, Signal Office, Washington DC, 475 pp.
2. Fassig, O.L. 1893. Proceedings of the meteorological congress held at Chicago August 21–24, 1893. Monthly Weather Review 21(8):227.
3. Fassig, O.L. 1895. Statistics of state weather services. Monthly Weather Review 23(6):209-212
4. Fassig, O.L. 1896. Automatic cloud photography. Monthly Weather Review 24(12):456-457.
5. Fassig, O.L. 1896. Report of the International Meteorological Congress, held at Chicago, Il1inois, August 21–24, 1893, under the auspices of the Congress Auxiliary of the World's Columbian Exposition. United States Department of Agriculture, Weather Bureau Bulletin No. 11, Part 2, 378 pp.
6. Fassig, O.L. 1897. The Ninth Annual Convention of the Association of German Agricultural Experiment Stations, 1896. United States Department of Agriculture, Office of Experiment Stations, Experiment Station Record 8(6):447-453.
7. Fassig, O.L. 1898. Meteorology at Johns Hopkins University. Monthly Weather Review 26(7):306-306.
8. Fassig, O.L. 1899. Types of March weather in the United States. The relations existing between mean atmospheric pressure, the prevailing character of the weather, and the paths of storms. Doctoral thesis, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, 340 pp.
9. Fassig, O.L. 1899. Types of March weather in the United States. The relations existing between mean atmospheric pressure, the prevailing character of the weather, and the paths of storms. The American Journal of Science, Fourth Series, 8(47):319-338.
10. Fassig, O.L. 1899. A sketch of the progress of meteorology in Maryland and Delaware. In: Clark, W.M. (ed), Maryland Weather Service, Vol. I, pp. 331–416.
11. Fassig, O.L. 1900. The climate of Allegany County. In: Clark, W.M. (ed), Allegany County. Maryland Geological Survey. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, pp. 217–231.
12. Fassig, O.L. 1901. The westward movement of the daily barometric wave. Monthly Weather Review 29(11):495-496.
13. Fassig, O.L. 1902. The westward movement of the daily barometric wave. In: Berry, J. and Phillips, W.F.R. (eds), Proceedings of the Second Convention of Weather Bureau Officials held at Milwaukee, Wis., Аugust 27,28, 29,1901. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Weather Bureau, Bulletin No. 31, pp. 62–65.
14. Fassig, O.L. 1902. Maryland climatological studies. In: Berry, J. and Phillips, W.F.R. (eds), Proceedings of the Second Convention of Weather Bureau Officials held at Milwaukee, Wis., Аugust 27,28, 29,1901. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Weather Bureau, Bulletin No. 31, pp. 200–202.
15. Fassig, O.L. 1902. The climate of Cecil County. In: Clark, W.M. (ed), Cecil County. Maryland Geological Survey. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, pp. 249–261.
16. Fassig, O.L. 1902. The climate of Garrett County. In: Clark, W.M. (ed), Garrett County. Maryland Geological Survey. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, pp. 253–273.
17. Fassig, O.L. 1902. A waterspout at close range. Monthly Weather Review 30(6):302-302.
18. Fassig, O.L. 1903. The meteorological work of the expedition to the Bahamas. Monthly Weather Review 31(7):320-320.
19. Fassig, O.L. 1903. Kite flying in the tropics. Monthly Weather Review 31(12):582-587.
20. Fassig, O.L. 1905. Climate of the Bahama Islands. In: Shattuck, G.B. (ed), The Bahama Islands, London: MacMillan, pp. 111–125.
21. Fassig, O.L. 1905. Exploration of the upper atmosphere at Nassau, New Providence, by means of kites. In: Shattuck, G.B. (ed), The Bahama Islands, London: MacMillan, pp. 129–143.
22. Fassig, O.L. 1905. Magnetic observations in the Bahama Islands. In: Shattuck, G.B. (ed), The Bahama Islands, London: MacMillan, pp. 99–108.
23. Fassig, O.L. 1905. The Ziegler Relief Expedition. Monthly Weather Review 33(10):438-438.
24. Fassig, O.L. 1906. Kite flight of April 5, 1906, at Mount Weather Observatory. Monthly Weather Review 34(3):125-126.
25. Fassig, O.L. 1907. The climate and weather of Baltimore. In: Clark, W.B. (ed), Maryland Weather Service, Special Publication 11, Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Press, 515 pp.
26. Fassig, O.L. 1907. The use of kites and balloons in the U. S. Weather Bureau. In: Navigating the Air. The Aero Club of America, New York: Doubleday, Page & Co., pp. 204–212.
27. Fassig, O.L. 1907. Guilbert's rules for weather prediction. Monthly Weather Review 35(5):210-211.
28. Moore, W.L., Humphreys, W.J. and Fassig, O.L. 1907. New problems of the weather. Yearbook of the United States Department of Agriculture 1906, pp. 121–124.
29. Fassig, O.L. 1909. Average annual rainfall of Porto Rico, West Indies. Monthly Weather Review 37(11):982-986.
30. Fassig, O.L. 1911. The normal temperature of Porto Rico, West Indies. Monthly Weather Review 39(2):299-302.
31. Fassig, O.L. 1911. The trade winds in Porto Rico. Monthly Weather Review 39(5):796-799.
32. Fassig, O.L. 1911. The climate of Porto Rico, West Indies. United States Department of Agriculture, Weather Bureau Bulletin, 20 pp.
33. Fassig, O.L. 1913. Hurricanes of the West Indies. United States Department of Agriculture, Weather Bureau, Bulletin 10, pp. 7–28.
34. Fassig, O.L. 1914. Period of safe plant growth in Maryland and Delaware. Monthly Weather Review 42(3):152-158.
35. Fassig, O.L. 1915. A revolving cloud camera. Monthly Weather Review 43(6):274-275.
36. Fassig, O.L. 1915. A remarkable fall of hail in Maryland. Monthly Weather Review 43(9):446-448
37. Fassig, O.L. 1916. Tropical rains - their duration, frequency, and intensity. Monthly Weather Review 44(6):329-337.
38. Fassig, O.L. 1917. The climate of Anne Arundel County. In: Clark, W.M. (ed), Anne Arundel County. Maryland Geological Survey. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, pp. 175–192.
39. Fassig, O.L. 1917. Tropical rains - their duration, frequency, and intensity. In: Proceedings of the Second Pan American Scientific Congress, Washington, U.S.A., Vol. II, pp. 460–473
40. Fassig, O.L. 1918. A signal corps school of meteorology. Monthly Weather Review 46(12):560-562.
41. Fassig, O.L. 1919. The work of the U. S. Weather bureau in the West Indies. Monthly Weather Review 47(12):850-851.
42. Fassig, O.L. 1924. Pilot-balloon observations at San Juan, Porto Rico. Monthly Weather Review 52(1):22-22.
43. Fassig, O.L. 1925. Rainfall and temperature of Cuba. Washington DC: Tropical Plant Research Foundation, 32 pp.
44. Fassig, O.L. 1928. San Felipe - The hurricane of September 13, 1928, at San Juan, P. R. Monthly Weather Review 56(9):350-352.
45. Fassig, O.L. 1929. A tentative chart of annual rainfall over the island of Haiti-Santo Domingo. Monthly Weather Review 57(7):296-296.
46. Fassig, O.L. 1929. Discussion. Monthly Weather Review 57(8):331-332. (Note: Tropical cyclones in Puerto Rico)
47. Fassig, O.L. 1930. On the frequency of hurricanes in the vicinity of Porto Rico. Monthly Weather Review 58(8):326-327.