Cleveland Abbe was born in New York City in 1838. He became the first regular, official weather forecaster of the US Government, and was a fervent supporter of research in atmospheric physics. He graduated from the City College of New York in 1857 and later studied under Franz Bröhnow at the University of Michigan. From 1860 to 1864, he worked with B.A. Gould in Cambridge, Massachusetts. At the Nautical Almanac office in Cambridge, Abbe met American meteorologist, William Ferrel. Abbe spent two years, 1864-1866, at Pulkovo, Russia, working under astronomer, Otto Struve.

Returning to America, Abbe hoped to establish in New York an observatory modeled on Pulkovo. The project may have proved too ambitious for the nineteenth century, and in 1868 Abbe went to Cincinnati as director of the Observatory there. In 1870, an Act of Congress authorized a national weather service under the direction of the Signal Corps of the Army. (This was the predecessor of the present Weather Bureau.) Abbe organized the forecast work and inaugurated and contributed to the Monthly Weather Review. Under his direction, the Corps established a laboratory and a center for basic research.

Abbe was known to pay close attention to new developments in the physical sciences. Under the auspices of the Signal Office, he visited research laboratories and prepared reports on the progress in geophysical experiments. He was interested in the work of Johns Hopkins professor, Henry A. Rowland, whose research in 1884 centered on atmospheric electricity. As a result of a report by Abbe, Rowland was given a sum of $200.00 from the Signal Corps to assist with his laboratory expenses.

Throughout his life, Abbe was committed to instruction and research in meteorology. In 1891, Abbe began negotiating with Johns Hopkins president, Daniel C. Gilman, to initiate a program of study in meteorology. Abbe offered to give his private library to the University in exchange for a commitment to teaching and experimentation in meteorology. Abbe's advocacy for the weather service combined with his connection to the University may have resulted in the organization in May, 1891 of the Maryland State Weather Service under the joint auspices of The Johns Hopkins University, the Maryland Agricultural College, and the United States Weather Bureau. In 1896, Abbe began giving lectures on climatology to the geology students at the University.

Abbe received the Symons Memorial Gold Medal from the Royal Meteorological Society in 1912. Cleveland Abbe died in Washington D.C. in 1916.