Abstract
Abstract. Weather diaries constitute an important source of data for historical climatology, employed in the analysis of weather patterns for both the pre-instrumental and the early instrumental periods. Among the many weather diaries that exist in Europe, the daily records kept by the Reverend Šimon Hausner from Buchlovice in south-east Moravia (Czech Republic), covering the 1803–1831 period, are particularly useful. His qualitative daily weather descriptions enable the construction of series for temperature, precipitation, cloudiness, wind, and other weather phenomena (particularly thunderstorms and fogs), supplemented by a number of phenological and agricultural work records. His data related to temperature and precipitation patterns were quantified into a series of weighted temperature and precipitation indices on 7-degree scales, which were subsequently compared with standard meteorological observations from the secular meteorological station in Brno. This comparison indicates that Hausner's observations are highly reliable and confirms the importance of his data for a better understanding of the variability in the regional climate in the period of early instrumental measurements in Moravia. At the same time, it reveals the importance of weather-related documentary data in the overlap period with instrumental meteorological observations.
Highlights
Recent historical climatology uses a very broad range of documentary evidence, including information about weather and related phenomena, for reconstructions of past climate variability (Brázdil et al, 2005a, 2010; White et al, 2018)
Further European weather diaries were reported in a paper by Pfister et al (1999), with special reference to the 16th century. Some of these have been analysed in great detail, e.g. in the Czech Lands (Brázdil and Kotyza, 1995, 1996) and in Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union
As with other personal daily weather observations, a degree of subjectivity is inherent in his records, but it appears to have been kept to a minimum
Summary
Recent historical climatology uses a very broad range of documentary evidence, including information about weather and related phenomena, for reconstructions of past climate variability (Brázdil et al, 2005a, 2010; White et al, 2018). Among such sources, visual daily weather observations are of particular importance, often appearing in the form of weather diaries (for the use of private diaries, see the overview paper by Adamson, 2015). Some of these have been analysed in great detail, e.g. in the Czech Lands (Brázdil and Kotyza, 1995, 1996) and in Published by Copernicus Publications on behalf of the European Geosciences Union
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