Never mind the war, how’s the weather? 160 years of Valentia
VALENTIA Observatory has been hailed for its critical role in the birth of modern weather forecasting.
The Kerry weather station has been described as ‘one of the jewels of modern meteorology’ by some of America’s leading academics.
The journal Weatherwise revealed the remote station’s position as the European terminus for the first transatlantic telegraph cable meant it could convey life-saving weather forecasts and observations.
‘The Valentia Observatory meteorological record remains one of the longest continuous official temperature records for Europe, and indeed, for the whole world,’ said the journal.
It describes how meteorologists even doggedly detailed their weather observations through the Civil War.
Observatory superintendent C.D. Stewart reported: ‘On 23rd the Irish Free State force took the town of Cahirciveen after some fighting, most of the actual shooting taking place in the vicinity of the Observatory.’
But he added: ‘No observation was missed, and no record was lost.’
Professor Randall Cerveny and Professor Robert Balling, both from Arizona State University, Professor Merlin Lawson of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln and Professor Niccole Cerveny from Mesa Community College compiled the report on Valentia’s key role in weather forecasting.
The newly-published paper revealed the first weather report from Valentia was made for 8am on October 8, 1860.
Weather prediction up to this time was accomplished by watching for changes in animal behaviour and the environment. ‘By 1867, the reports had proven so worthwhile that the Meteorological Committee of the Royal Society ordered that an official weather observatory be constructed on the island,’ the authors noted.
The researchers noted that between 1855 and 1860, some 7,402 ships were wrecked off the European coasts, with a total of 7,201 lost lives. But through the use of the telegraph at Valencia, crucial weather warnings could be conveyed back and forth from the British and US coasts.
‘Because of its important location with regard to both ocean weather and telegraph technology, Valentia remained the focal point for those telegraph weather observations and forecasts,’ said the researchers.
In March 1892, the Observatory was transferred from the island to its present location outside Cahersiveen in Co Kerry at Westwood House, but retained the name Valentia Observatory.
The British Meteorological Office staffed and funded the Observatory until 1936 when Met Éireann took over.
Today, the station carries out surface weather and upper-air meteorological measurements, as well as a wide range of other scientific activities including ozone monitoring, geomagnetics, seismology, solar radiation and environmental monitoring.