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- Author or Editor: J. M. Vaquero x
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The first barometers in the Americas were provided by the Royal Society of London in 1677 to correspondents in the Caribbean Island of Barbados. Colonel William Sharpe of Barbados was the first person in the Americas to make daily observations of the weather using a meteorological instrument (other than a wind vane) and made the first known measurements of barometric pressure within the circulation of a hurricane on 12 August 1680. His record provides new insight into the early history of the barometer and early perceptions of tropical weather, vindicates the hypothesis that the barometer would prove useful in detecting hurricanes, and contributes to Edmund Halley's understanding of the empirical distinctions between the Tropics and temperate zones. Sharpe's name and contributions, previously unknown to the meteorological community, can now be properly recognized.
The first barometers in the Americas were provided by the Royal Society of London in 1677 to correspondents in the Caribbean Island of Barbados. Colonel William Sharpe of Barbados was the first person in the Americas to make daily observations of the weather using a meteorological instrument (other than a wind vane) and made the first known measurements of barometric pressure within the circulation of a hurricane on 12 August 1680. His record provides new insight into the early history of the barometer and early perceptions of tropical weather, vindicates the hypothesis that the barometer would prove useful in detecting hurricanes, and contributes to Edmund Halley's understanding of the empirical distinctions between the Tropics and temperate zones. Sharpe's name and contributions, previously unknown to the meteorological community, can now be properly recognized.
This paper documents a rare spell of severe weather in Spain that took place during the mid-nineteenth century when a tropical storm struck the southwest of the country on 29 October 1842. The use of a variety of independent documentary sources has provided unprecedented scope for the analysis of this event, allowing it to be set within its wider context, and for a judgement to be made on its tropical origin. The evidence suggests that this was similar, though stronger, to the more recent Hurricane Vince, which made landfall in Spain on 10 October 2005. This case study not only places Hurricane Vince, suggested at the time to have been unique, in its more proper long-term context, but it also demonstrates how documentary sources can improve our wider understanding of climate dynamics during historical times in the Atlantic basin.
This paper documents a rare spell of severe weather in Spain that took place during the mid-nineteenth century when a tropical storm struck the southwest of the country on 29 October 1842. The use of a variety of independent documentary sources has provided unprecedented scope for the analysis of this event, allowing it to be set within its wider context, and for a judgement to be made on its tropical origin. The evidence suggests that this was similar, though stronger, to the more recent Hurricane Vince, which made landfall in Spain on 10 October 2005. This case study not only places Hurricane Vince, suggested at the time to have been unique, in its more proper long-term context, but it also demonstrates how documentary sources can improve our wider understanding of climate dynamics during historical times in the Atlantic basin.
This paper draws on a range of contemporary documentary evidence from the New and Old Worlds as well as from the oceanic regions to reconstruct the trajectory and intensity of an Atlantic hurricane from August 1680. In doing so, it offers the example of one of the earliest and most comprehensive hurricane reconstructions thus far attempted. The source material includes evidence from land-based observers and some of the earliest examples of instrumental barometric data from the Caribbean and from Europe; importantly, it also calls on the written accounts offered in ships' logbooks from various parts of the Atlantic. The latter provide the opportunity of tracking the system across the otherwise data-deficient areas of the North Atlantic as it recurved toward Europe. The findings are of intrinsic interest in documenting a notable historical event. They also offer a methodological model of how such a variety of documentary sources can be drawn together and used to identify, track, and reconstruct such events from the distant past and thereby improve the chronology of hurricanes and make more reliable our interpretation of their changing frequencies.
This paper draws on a range of contemporary documentary evidence from the New and Old Worlds as well as from the oceanic regions to reconstruct the trajectory and intensity of an Atlantic hurricane from August 1680. In doing so, it offers the example of one of the earliest and most comprehensive hurricane reconstructions thus far attempted. The source material includes evidence from land-based observers and some of the earliest examples of instrumental barometric data from the Caribbean and from Europe; importantly, it also calls on the written accounts offered in ships' logbooks from various parts of the Atlantic. The latter provide the opportunity of tracking the system across the otherwise data-deficient areas of the North Atlantic as it recurved toward Europe. The findings are of intrinsic interest in documenting a notable historical event. They also offer a methodological model of how such a variety of documentary sources can be drawn together and used to identify, track, and reconstruct such events from the distant past and thereby improve the chronology of hurricanes and make more reliable our interpretation of their changing frequencies.
Abstract
Great advances in meteorological science were made in the late eighteenth century. In particular, meteorological instruments were carried on ships and the first systematic meteorological readings over the oceans were made. One of these collections of instrumental meteorological readings was carried out by the Malaspina expedition (1789–94), organized by the Spanish Crown to study its vast possessions around the world. We have recovered meteorological variables such as air temperature (maximum and minimum), atmospheric pressure (maximum and minimum), wind (intensity and direction), and appearance (state of the sky) from the documentation generated by the explorers during the journey. In total, nearly 13,000 instrumental data have been digitized and rescued from this maritime expedition. The comparison of daily temperature and pressure observations with reanalysis and weather stations data shows a good overall agreement. Moreover, apparent discrepancies during several anchored periods have allowed for testing the consistency and quality of these early instrumental marine weather readings.
Abstract
Great advances in meteorological science were made in the late eighteenth century. In particular, meteorological instruments were carried on ships and the first systematic meteorological readings over the oceans were made. One of these collections of instrumental meteorological readings was carried out by the Malaspina expedition (1789–94), organized by the Spanish Crown to study its vast possessions around the world. We have recovered meteorological variables such as air temperature (maximum and minimum), atmospheric pressure (maximum and minimum), wind (intensity and direction), and appearance (state of the sky) from the documentation generated by the explorers during the journey. In total, nearly 13,000 instrumental data have been digitized and rescued from this maritime expedition. The comparison of daily temperature and pressure observations with reanalysis and weather stations data shows a good overall agreement. Moreover, apparent discrepancies during several anchored periods have allowed for testing the consistency and quality of these early instrumental marine weather readings.
Abstract
The weather diary of Felipe de Zúñiga y Ontiveros was recorded in Mexico City from 1775 to 1786. It is the earliest meteorological observational record of Mexico. The diary provides daily meteorological information for rain frequency, temperature, frost, hail, thunderstorms, and wind, with higher resolution than any other contemporary documentation or natural proxy from this region. The seasonal distributions of rainy days, temperature, hail, and thunderstorms correspond well with those from the Tacubaya Observatory in Mexico City (1886–2016). Two drought periods (1780/81 and 1785/86) and one wet period (1782/83) were identified. The drought spanning from 1785 to 1786 is known in the literature as “the hunger year” because it represented the most severe famine during the colonial period (1521–1821). This paper analyzes—for the first time—this event at a daily scale. Similar to the reported droughts of 1909/10 and 2010/11, 1785/86 was a very dry period. But the dry conditions of 1785 were followed by intense frosts that started in late August and continued through September and October. This combination led to the destruction of crops and subsequent famine. The duration of the frost does not have analogs during the instrumental period, probably because of the intense warming and land changes registered over the last years in the region.
Abstract
The weather diary of Felipe de Zúñiga y Ontiveros was recorded in Mexico City from 1775 to 1786. It is the earliest meteorological observational record of Mexico. The diary provides daily meteorological information for rain frequency, temperature, frost, hail, thunderstorms, and wind, with higher resolution than any other contemporary documentation or natural proxy from this region. The seasonal distributions of rainy days, temperature, hail, and thunderstorms correspond well with those from the Tacubaya Observatory in Mexico City (1886–2016). Two drought periods (1780/81 and 1785/86) and one wet period (1782/83) were identified. The drought spanning from 1785 to 1786 is known in the literature as “the hunger year” because it represented the most severe famine during the colonial period (1521–1821). This paper analyzes—for the first time—this event at a daily scale. Similar to the reported droughts of 1909/10 and 2010/11, 1785/86 was a very dry period. But the dry conditions of 1785 were followed by intense frosts that started in late August and continued through September and October. This combination led to the destruction of crops and subsequent famine. The duration of the frost does not have analogs during the instrumental period, probably because of the intense warming and land changes registered over the last years in the region.
