Diary of Adelaide weather from 1843 to 1856 gives SA the longest continual temperature records in Australia
A 15-year search has finally uncovered this document dating back to the first years of Adelaide’s settlement – giving us the longest daily temperature record anywhere in Australia.
SA News
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The discovery of an extensive 150-year-old diary has filled a key gap in Adelaide’s colonial weather history and will also provide one of the longest continual records in the Southern Hemisphere.
The diary contains crucial weather data details from 1843 to 1856, including rainfall, temperatures, cloud types and even barometric pressure meticulously recorded in longhand.
The records began 20 years after the city was founded and were created by the Survey Department, under the guidance of Surveyor-General Edward Charles Frome.
Australian Meteorological Association project manager Mac Benoy said the discovery was part of a 15-year search by local volunteers to find colonial Adelaide’s missing weather records.
“A group of citizen scientists hosted by weather bureau have ‘rescued’ these documents,’’ he said.
“They (the 1843 to 1856 diary records) are part of a much larger project, imaging 110,000 pages of weather observations, maps and articles covering the period from 1838 to 1957.’’ But the photographs now have to be digitised, requiring a request for volunteers.
With the Australian National University, the group is now looking for volunteers to undergo the huge task of transcribing into digital format the 1843-1856 diary which is 1500 lines, or 170 pages.
ANU climate expert Dr Joelle Gergis said the discovery was hugely significant in the colonial history of Australia.
“When complete, it will be the longest continuous daily temperature record in Australia, and one of the longest in the Southern Hemisphere,’’ she said. ANU citizen science officer Caitlin Howlett said it was expected there would be big response to a call for volunteers.
“Within the Surveyor-General diary there is unique information that we’ve never known before, including detailed comments and weather observations up to four times a day,” she said.
Ms Howlett said variations in the legibility of the writing would determine how long it took to digitise all 4015 days, but 50 individual observations are considered an hour of work time. An invitation to volunteer will be issued within weeks, and those interested should visit www.climatehistory.com.au to sign up.
Dr Gergis said colonial records were important because they had already shown South Australians were suffering from an increasing number of extreme heatwaves and fewer snow days.
“Extending Adelaide’s temperature record back to 1838 indicates that the warming trend observed in Australia has resulted in a decrease in cold extremes and an increase in heatwaves in the region,” Dr Gergis said.