On March 23, 1950, the Convention of the World Meteorological Organization came into force. The convention had been opened for signature in Washington on October 11, 1947.

The convention provided for the creation of a World Meteorological Organization as a specialized agency of the United Nations; its basic objectives would be to coordinate, standardize, and improve international meteorological activities, and to encourage “an efficient exchange of weather and other meteorological information in the aid of human activities.” The new group was to continue the activities of the semi-official International Meteorological Organization, which had functioned since 1878.