Charting the Ephemeral: The Evolution of Climate Knowledge

First meteorological map, charting the directions of trade winds and monsoons. Information was collected from navigators familiar with ocean transits, and also from his own tropical experience on St. Helena (1677–1678). On the map, rows of brief…

First world isothermal chart. Woodbridge notes that the figures on the chart indicate mean annual temperature of the places depicted. The dotted lines crossing the chart point out the places which have equal degrees of heat. Theres form the…

This is the first U.S. weather map. In his accompanying report, Espy states that the committee received back 50 responses from the 250 circulars it sent out to different parts of the United States and Canada regarding this notable storm. The map…

The principal phases of a storm at once. Provided here are the names and city/state locations of all of the “meteorological correspondents” who provided the data exhibited in Espy's charts. Shown here is the position and extent of a storm at a…

Building off his previous previous work, Woodbridge again depicts isothermal conditions. Here, he updates the way the planting information is displayed (in boxes, with horizontal text). Overall, Woodbridge notes that the figures on the chart indicate…

This weather map is published by the US Department of Agriculture. Observations were taken from 8am to 8pm where barometers reduced to Sea Level and 32degrees Fahrenheit. The heavy dotted lines inclose ares of marked changes in temperature during the…

This map shows what is referred to as the first scientific study of a tornado’s path and the first conclusive proof that tornadoes are an inward, upward, and onward moving column of air. In his article, Chappelsmith notes that people living five…

Map showing colored areas of climate conditions on a particular day. The colored areas correspond to precipitation conditions, , i.e. snow, clear, rain, clouds, fog. Different lines depict areas of equal pressure (dashed) and areas of equal thermal…