The Meteorological Journal of William Dawes. Image: Joelle Gergis (click to enlarge)
To date, there has been limited exploration of Australian historical meteorological records for pre-20th century weather information.
But the information held in these early records is essential for evaluating the historical context of extreme events such as the current drought gripping southern Australia, and defining our range of pre-industrial climate variability.
This project will digitise and extend some of south-eastern Australia’s key meteorological records held by the Bureau of Meteorology, National and State Archives and a range of pre-Federation observatories and historical societies.
Some of the key meteorological records the SEARCH team is examining, include:
