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Pre-Weather Bureau Observation Networks

The collection consists of monthly weather records from U.S. Army Forts stations (~1820-1871), U.S. Army Signal Service Stations (1871-1892), Smithsonian Institution voluntary observer network (1848-1875), and other stations which conducted weather observations in the 19th century. Observations were generally conducted three times daily, around 7am, 2pm and 9pm. The voluntary and Signal Service stations were transferred to the newly-created U.S. Weather Bureau in 1891. Many of the stations continue on past 1892 in the Cooperative Observations and Surface Weather Observations (1001) libraries. Some keyed data from this series resides in the NCDC digital archive, but the vast majority is held and accessed through the Midwest Regional Climate Center (MRCC), a key partner in digitzation of the records. The MRCC holds keyed data for over 400 stations. All data in this collection were provided to the archive by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The original forms were deteriorating in the National Archives and were converted to microfilm in the late 1930s as part of a Works Projects Administration program. A copy of the set was made for archival at NCDC, and the film was converted to TIFF format images around the year 2000 under the The Climate Database Modernization Program (CDMP). The physical collection spans from approximately 1804 until 1893, though some stations extend into the twentieth century. The digital collection includes any digitzed pre-1893 data received from NARA.

About this Dataset

Updated: 2024-02-22
Metadata Last Updated: 2025-11-14T14:09:07.675Z
Date Created: N/A
Data Provided by:
Dataset Owner: N/A

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Table representation of structured data
Title Pre-Weather Bureau Observation Networks
Description The collection consists of monthly weather records from U.S. Army Forts stations (~1820-1871), U.S. Army Signal Service Stations (1871-1892), Smithsonian Institution voluntary observer network (1848-1875), and other stations which conducted weather observations in the 19th century. Observations were generally conducted three times daily, around 7am, 2pm and 9pm. The voluntary and Signal Service stations were transferred to the newly-created U.S. Weather Bureau in 1891. Many of the stations continue on past 1892 in the Cooperative Observations and Surface Weather Observations (1001) libraries. Some keyed data from this series resides in the NCDC digital archive, but the vast majority is held and accessed through the Midwest Regional Climate Center (MRCC), a key partner in digitzation of the records. The MRCC holds keyed data for over 400 stations. All data in this collection were provided to the archive by the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA). The original forms were deteriorating in the National Archives and were converted to microfilm in the late 1930s as part of a Works Projects Administration program. A copy of the set was made for archival at NCDC, and the film was converted to TIFF format images around the year 2000 under the The Climate Database Modernization Program (CDMP). The physical collection spans from approximately 1804 until 1893, though some stations extend into the twentieth century. The digital collection includes any digitzed pre-1893 data received from NARA.
Modified 2025-11-14T14:09:07.675Z
Publisher Name N/A
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Keywords Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Pressure , Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Precipitation Amount , Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Precipitation Amount > 24 Hour Precipitation Amount , Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Liquid Precipitation > Rain , Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Solid Precipitation > Ice Pellets > Sleet , Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Solid Precipitation > Snow , Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Surface Temperature > Air Temperature , Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Surface Temperature > Maximum/Minimum Temperature , Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Surface Temperature , Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Temperature > Surface Temperature > Temperature Anomalies , Earth Science > Atmosphere > Atmospheric Winds > Surface Winds , Earth Science > Atmosphere > Precipitation > Precipitation Anomalies , Atmospheric - Surface - Air Temperature , Atmospheric - Surface - Precipitation , Atmospheric - Surface - Air Pressure , Atmospheric - Surface - Wind Speed And Direction , Atmospheric - Upper-air - Cloud Properties , Continent > North America > United States Of America , Vertical Location > Land Surface , Thermometers , Wind Vanes , Rain Gauges , Barometers , Visual Observations , Meteorological Stations , Point Resolution , Point Resolution , Hourly - HTML Markup Was Removed , DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCDC > National Climatic Data Center, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce , DOC/NOAA/NESDIS/NCEI > National Centers for Environmental Information, NESDIS, NOAA, U.S. Department of Commerce , climatologyMeteorologyAtmosphere
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