Weather vanes were used in early weather reporting.
Although mass-audience weather reporting does not date back past the mid-1800s, ancient civilizations kept records of climate and weather conditions. Even without written data, geological features such as glaciers can serve as a natural weather record.
Early History
According to NASA, the Babylonians were among the first to attempt weather forecasting, by observing clouds and optical phenomena to track seasonal weather changes in 650 B.C.
Changes
Francis Galton's weather observation map for March 30, 1875, printed in the next day's edition of "The Times," a UK newspaper, ranks as the first published weather report. On December 4, 1916, the first telegraphic broadcast of a weather forecast occurred at the 9XM studio on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus.
Weather forecasting on television began at WNBT-TV in New York City on October 14, 1941, when a cartoon character called Woolly Lamb sang a lead-in to the next day's on-screen weather forecast, writes Mark Monmonier in "Air Apparent: How Meteorologists Learned to Map, Predict and Dramatize Weather."
Modern-Day
Modern technology helps meteorologists to track weather specifics, such as climate, weather patterns, the jet stream and storm systems. Satellites, weather balloons and Doppler radar allow recording and reporting of specific atmospheric readings.
Tags: climate weather, weather forecast, weather reporting
