On Tuesday 12 July, 1898, train lines in the Perth region of Western Australia were severely damaged due to severe flooding from heavy rainfall. This caused hundreds of people to be cut off from food, water and proper shelter, with the tracks not able to be repaired for a number of days. The “washaway near … Continue reading July 1898: Storm in Perth strands hundreds
Our citizen science volunteers have now helped to fill a twenty-year data gap in Perth's daily weather record, by transcribing historical weather journals that cover the period 1880 to 1900. It took 1,790 volunteers 72 days to transcribe over 34,000 weather observations on the citizen science platform, Zooniverse. These newly transcribed observations will help link together … Continue reading The longest daily weather record for Perth is now fully transcribed!
A little over two months ago, on 20 April 2021, we launched a new citizen science project to transcribe Perth's daily weather journals from 1880 to 1900. This Zooniverse project is now at 78% completion, and over 1,780 people have volunteered. Anyone with access to the internet and a desktop computer can get involved. Every … Continue reading Project Update: Perth Zooniverse project close to completion
A “wave of heat” that was described at the time as “abnormal” and “unbearable”, affected Perth, Western Australia, from 1-4 January, 1896. During the “exceedingly long spell of hot weather”, there were at least seven reported “deaths from sunstroke”, as well as the passing of four infants in a nearby town. Perth experienced severe water … Continue reading Perth’s deadly heatwave of 1896
In November and December of 1829, the Perth region was battered by "strong squalls" and a "very fresh wind and boisterous sea". The gale-force winds pushed the H.M.S Success aground, and was part of a succession of wind-related shipwrecks which contributed to “failure and famine” difficulties in the colony of Swan River, Western Australia. How … Continue reading Reconstructing past extremes using historical wind observations
The term ‘hoar frost’ comes from the Old English term ‘hoar’ which can mean old, aged, venerable or grey – although it’s most commonly used to mean ‘grey-haired with age’. As a weather description, it refers to a type of frost that resembles an old man's grey, feathery beard. One of the volunteers on our … Continue reading ‘Hoar frost’ in Perth, 1899
We've had a few queries on our current Zooniverse project Forum page about why we aren't using machines or artificial intelligence (AI) to transcribe these weather journals. Sometimes, this type of data transcription is called Machine Learning (ML) or Optical Character Recognition/Reader (OCR). The reason we need actual people to transcribe these documents is that … Continue reading Why we don’t use computers to transcribe these historical weather records
Our research has found that in June 1872, Perth experienced one of its most severe storms of the 19th century. Barometer observations made during this storm show that atmospheric pressure was at one of its lowest levels since 1830. The associated flooding from the storm was reported as one of the most severe floods since the … Continue reading June 1872: Severe storm and flooding in Perth
Our team is now looking for volunteers to help create Australia’s longest daily weather record from a globally recognised climate change ‘hot spot’. The citizen science project will help scientists reconstruct Perth’s daily weather from 1830 to the present day. These historical records are critical for understanding Australia’s pre-industrial climate, and how climate change has … Continue reading Australia’s longest weather record from climate change ‘hot spot’
In 1896, there was a great celebration for the unveiling of West Australia’s weather observatory’s foundation stone in Perth Park (now Kings Park and Botanic Garden). That year, Premier John Forrest said that the observatory: "… showed that in the time of our prosperity we were trying to elevate and improve the public mind and to do something for the encouragement of the arts and sciences… Western Australians might be proud they were doing something to enlighten their people and to join hands with the scientists all over the world.”
