Abstract
An account is given of the preparation of daily weather maps within the historical-instrumental period, with details concerning the detection and location of source material and its subsequent examination, collection and reduction to provide a workable synoptic network of comparable meteorological observations over the eastern North Atlantic-European sector.
The application of the Lamb British Isles weather types andGrosswetterlagen for the statistical analysis of circulation patterns derived from these charts is discussed.
An objective test was devised whereby the frequency of monthly extremes of nine variables was examined with the following important conclusions:
-
i.
the synoptic charts of the 1780s show no evidence of systematic errors when compared with rainfall figures,
-
ii.
the early 1780s was a period of unusually high climatic variability on the month-to-month time-scale, especially in the frequencies of cyclonic and of anticyclonic days.
An account is given of the impact of climate on the affairs of man in the 1780s, highlighting some specific historical case studies and discussing agriculture and industry in general.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Alexander, W.: 1877,Notes and Sketches Illustrative of Northern Rural Life in the Eighteenth Century. David Douglas, Edinburgh.
Angot, A.: 1895,Les aurores polaires. Ancienne Librairie Germer Baillière et Cie, Paris.
Baur, F.: 1947,Musterbeispiele europäischer Grosswetterlagen. Wiesbaden, Dieterich'sche Verlags-buchhandlung.
Baur, F.: 1975, ‘Abweichungen der Monatsmittel der Temperatur Mitteleuropas vom 210 jährigen Mittelwert (1761–1970) in °C’,Beilage zur Berliner Wetterkarte, SO 19/75.
Brazell, J. H.: 1968,London Weather. Met O. 783, H.M.S.O., London.
Brimblecombe, P. and Wigley, T. M. L.: 1978, ‘Early Observations of London's Urban Plume’,Weather 33, 215–220.
Brooks, C. E. P.: 1970,Climate Through the Ages. Dover Publications Inc.
Buchan, A.: 1880, ‘Meterology of Gordon Castle, Banffshire, 57°38′N.Lat, 3°4′W.Long. from July 1781 to Novermber 1827, from Observations Made by James Hoy, F.L.S.,’Journal of the Scottish Meteorological Society,5, 59–83.
Chico, T. and Sellers, W. D.: 1979, ‘Interannual Temperature Variability in the United States since 1896’,Climatic Change 2, 139–147.
Douglas, K. S., Lamb, H. H., and Loader, C.: 1978,A Meteorological Study of July to October 1588: the Spanish Armada Storms. CRU RP6, Climatic Research Unit, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich.
Douglas, K. S. and Lamb, H. H.: 1979,Weather Observations and a Tentative Meteorological Analysis of the Period May to July 1588.IbidCRU RP6, Climatic Research Unit, School of Environmental Sciences, University of East Anglia, Norwich, 6a.
Dreyer, J. L. E. (Ed.): 1912,The Scientific Papers of Sir William Herschel. Royal Society and Astronomical Society. London.
Grove, J. M.: 1972, ‘The incidence of Landslides, Avalanches and Floods in Western Norway During the Little Ice Age’,Arctic and Alpine Research 4, 131–138.
Handley, J. E.: 1963,The Agricultural Revolution in Scotland. Burns, Glasgow.
Hess, P. and Brezowsky, H.: 1969,Katalog der Grosswetterlagen Europas. Berichte des Deutschen Wetterdienstes, Nr. 113, Offenbach.
Howard, L.: 1843,Seven Lectures on Meteorology. 2nd Edition, Harvey and Darton, London.
Ingram, M. J., Underhill, D. J. and Wigley, T. M. L.: 1978, ‘Historical Climatology’,Nature 276, 329–334.
Kington, J. A.: 1970, ‘A late Eighteenth Century Source of Meteorological Data’,Weather 25, 169–175.
Kington, J. A.: 1972, ‘Meteorological Observing in Scandinavia and Iceland During the Eighteenth Century’,Weather 27, 222–233.
Kington, J. A.: 1974, ‘TheSocietas Meteorologica Palatina: an Eighteenth Century Meteorological Society’,Ibid Weather,29, 416–426.
Kington, J. A.: 1975, ‘Daily Synoptic Weather Maps from the 1780s: A Research Project of Synoptic Climatology’,Meteorol. Mag. 104, 33–52.
Kington, J. A. : 1979,A Synoptic Climatological Study of the Glomma Flood Disaster of July 1789. Report to the Norsk Vandbygningskontor a.s., Climatic Research Unit, 30 March 1979.
Kington, J. A. and Kington, B.: 1979, ‘The Spring of 1782’,Climate Monitor 8, 65–75.
Koch, A. and Peden, W.: 1944,The Life and Selected Writings of Thomas Jefferson. The Modern Library, New York.
Lamb, H. H.: 1970, ‘Volcanic Dust in the Atmosphere; With a Chronology and Assessment of its Meteorological Significance’.Phil. Trans. Royal Soc., London A266, 425–533. (Updated inClimate Monitor 6, 56–67, Climatic Research Unit).
Lamb, H. H.: 1972, ‘British Isles Weather Types and a Register of the Daily Sequence of Circulation Patterns 1861–1971’.Geophys. Mem. 116, H.M.S.O., London.
Le Roy Ladurie, E.: 1971,Times of Feast, Times of Famine. Doubleday & Co. Inc., New York.
Ludlam, F. H.: 1966,The Cyclone Problem: a History of Models of the Cyclonic Storm. Imperial College of Science and Technology, London.
Manley, G.: 1974, ‘Central England Temperatures: Monthly Means 1659 to 1973’,Quart. J. Royal Meteorol. Soc.,100, 389–405.
Michelet, J.: 1967,Grandes pages de la Révolution. Pierre Waleffe, Paris.
Murray, R. and Lewis, R. P. W.: 1966, ‘Some Aspects of the Synoptic Climatology of the British Isles as Measured by Simple Indices’,Meteorol. Mag. 95, 193–203.
National Research Council.: 1978,International Perspectives on the Study of Climate and Society. National Academy of Sciences, Washington, D.C.
Neumann, J.: 1977, ‘Great Historical Events that were Significantly Affected by the Weather: 2, The Year Leading to the Revolution of 1789 in France’,Bulletin American Met. Soc.,58, 163–168.
Nicholas, F. J. and Glasspoole, J.: 1931, ‘General Monthly Rainfall over England and Wales, 1727 to 1931’,British Rainfall,71, 299–306.
Oliver, J. and Kington, J. A.: 1970, ‘The Usefulness of Ships' Log Books in the Synoptic Analysis of Past Climates’,Weather,25, 520–528.
Pfister, Ch.: 1975,Agrarkonjunktur und Witterungsverlauf im westlichen Schweizer Mittelland, 1755– 1797, Geographisches Institut der Universität Bern, Berne.
Pfister, Ch.: 1978, ‘Fluctuations in the Duration of Snow-Cover in Switzerland since the Late Seventeenth Century’, p. 1–6 inProceedings of the Nordic Symposium on Climatic Changes and Related Problems, Copenhagen 24–28 April 1978 (edited K. Frydendahl), Climatological Papers No. 4, Danish Meteorological Institute, Copenhagen.
Post, J. D.: 1977,The Last Great Subsistence Crisis in the Western World. The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore and London.
Ratcliffe, R. A. S., Weller, J., and Collison, P.: 1978, ‘Variability in the Frequency of Unusual Weather over Approximately the Last Century’,Quart. J. Royal Meteorol. Soc. 104, 243–255.
Riehl, H.: 1965,Introduction to the Atmosphere. McGraw-Hill Book Co. Inc., New York.
Sparks, J.: 1838,The Works of Benjamin Franklin, Vol. 6, Hilliard, Gray & Co., Boston
Spiller, B.: 1968,Cowper: Poetry and Prose. Rupert Hart-Davis, London.
Van Loon, H. and Williams, J.: 1978, ‘The Association between Mean Temperature and Interannual Variability’,Monthly Weather Review 106, 1012–1017.
Wales-Smith, B. G.: 1971 ‘Monthly and Annual Totals of Rainfall Representative of Kew, Surrey, from 1697 to 1970’,Meteorol. Mag. 100, 345–362.
Wales-Smith, B. G.: 1973, ‘An Analysis of Monthly Rainfall Totals Representative of Kew, Surrey, from 1697 to 1970’, ibidMeteorol. Mag.,102, 157–171.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
The text of this article is based on a paper presented at the International Conference on Climate and History held at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, England 8–14 July 1979.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Kington, J.A. Daily weather mapping from 1781:. Climatic Change 3, 7–36 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02423166
Received:
Revised:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02423166