DHMZ was founded 1947 and since then it is located on Grič 3 in Upper Town, old part of Zagreb.

Since 1992, Croatia has been a member of the World Meteorological Organization, United Nations' agency specialized in weather, climate and water.

The DHMZ supports the economic and sustainable development of Croatia and assists in the protection of lives, goods and the environment by providing information on the following: weather, climate, hydrological and ecological events and climate extremes with the aim of mitigating their consequences in line with WMO recommendations and EU directives.

- Construction of infrastructure and measurement systems, as well as planning and maintenance of all kinds of meteorological and hydrological stations and air quality measurement stations - Development and maintenance of various databases (meteorological, hydrological, air quality) - Provision of information on meteorology, hydrology and air quality to users (the DHMZ issues warnings and produces analyses, forecasts, studies and surveys).

This is achieved through the application of scientific methods and the use of powerful computers and sophisticated software in producing numerical models - Applied scientific research and development of methods designed to enhance the quality of information which the DHMZ offers to its users.