The College of Agriculture and the Experiment Station each began as part of the Washington Agricultural College, Experiment Station, and School of Science in 1892. Extension work (originally referred to as Agricultural Extension) at WSU (then WSC) was authorized in 1913 by state legislation. WSU's Institute of Agricultural Sciences combined Extension, Agriculture, and other departments in 1946, but was dissolved into its component departments in 1965 at which point Agricultural Extension was renamed as Cooperative Extension in 1965 and simply as WSU Extension in 2003. In Pullman, early weather recordings were done by people affiliated with the Experiment Station; Professor John A Balmer took many of the early readings.
The collection is broken into four series: Climatological Observation Records, Characteristics of Principle Storms, Temperature and Wind Movement, and Wind Movement Data. They present readings taken in Pullman at the Agricultural College (later further specified as the Soil Conservation Experimental Station) from 1893-1961.
Series One consists of Climatological Observation Records from February 1893 to December 1961, excepting the entire decade of the 1930s, which is missing. The title of these forms changes over the years, from USDA Weather Bureau Voluntary Observers' Meteorological Record to Extention Observers' Meteorological Record to Monthly Climatological Report. They include daily data on temperature minimums and maximums, precipitation, wind direction, "character of day," and other remarks.
Series Two is Characteristics of Principle Storms forms from 1932-1956. These forms tally individual storms on a daily basis, including duration in hours, total inches of precipitation, and intensity of precipitation throughout the storms' duration.
Series Three consists of Temperature and Wind Movement records from 1936-1954. These forms record daily temperature maximums and minimums, and wind movement in miles.
Series Four is Wind Movement Data, 1912-1948. These forms tally daily wind movement in miles.
This collection is open and available for research use.
[Item Description] Agricultural Extension Service Pullman Weather Data, 1893-1961 (UA 276)
Manuscripts, Archives, and Special Collections, Washington State University Libraries, Pullman, WA.
These materials were transfered to MASC by Sheila Brooks of WSU's Agricultural Research Center on July 17, 2009, and retained as UA2009-14. The reports had been in the College of Agriculture's storage space in the attic of Wilson Hall for an unknown time; their prior provenance is unknown.
This collection was processed by University Archivist Mark O'English in July of 2009.
Reproductions of the forms in Series One, at least for 1893-1949 and 1957-1959, can be found online through the
This collection is indexed under the following headings in the online catalog. Researchers desiring materials about related topics, persons, or places should search the catalog using these headings.