Processed in May of 2013
This collection was donated to Utah State University Special Collections and Archives by the Utah State Climatologist’s office in 1990.
No restrictions on use, except: not available through interlibrary loan.
It is the responsibility of the researcher to obtain any necessary copyright clearances.
Permission to publish material from the Utah Weather Station Records must be obtained from the
A March 16, 1992 issue of the Utah Climate Center publication,
"Each day volunteer weather observers at nearly 200 sites scattered around Utah record weather data for the National Weather Service. The observations include the daily maximum and minimum temperatures, 24-hour precipitation totals, 24-hour snowfall, and depths of snow on the ground. The ritual and many of the instruments have changed very little since the civilian weather service was born in 1891…
…Prior to 1890 climatology observations were recorded for military purposes by the Signal Service of the War Department and a small weather observation network was organized by the Smithsonian Institution. When the Organic Act was signed on October 1, 1890, civilian weather observers, and warning and forecast responsibilities were transferred to the Department of Agriculture. Ultimately, the National Weather Service—at that time known as the Weather Bureau—was created in July 1891."
The weather observations from across Utah eventually ended up at the Utah Climate Center, located on the Utah State University campus in Logan. UCC staff are affiliated with USU’s Department of Plant, Soils and Climate and the Agricultural Experiment Station.
The Utah Weather State records contain mostly raw weather data in a variety of forms.
Series I: Record of Climatological Observations. This series contains daily observations of temperature, precipitation, and weather conditions from across Utah. The material is arranged alphabetically by place.
Series II: Winds Aloft Computation Sheet. This series provides information about wind speed and direction in Milford, Salt Lake City, and Wendover. The material is arranged chronologically.
Series III: Temperature and Preciptation Data. This series consists of ledgers used to record mean maximum temperature, mean minimum temperature, mean temperature, maximum temperature, minimum temperature, total precipitation, greatest precipitation, total snowfall, and number of rainy days, for locations across the state. The material is arranged alphabetically by location.
Series IV: Surface Weather Observations. This series includes records of temperature, precipitation, wind, sunshine, and weather occurrances for Wendover, Utah. These materials are arranged chronologically.
Series V: Combined Wind Direction, Velocity, Sunshine, Rain Fall, Recorder Charts. This series contains charts that resemble those of a seismograph but were used to automatically record wind direction, velocity, sunshine, and rainfall at Lincoln, Lake Point, and the International Smelting Company.
Series VI: Newspaper Clippings. This series is composed of newspaper clippings from across the state that address local weather events. They are arranged chronologically.
Series VII: Miscellaneous Weather Data, Records, and Files. This series consists of loose weather data, files, or bound volumes that did not lend themselves to clear categorization. An attempt was made ot group similar materials.
Arranged by document type.
Signal Service Corps Ledgers,
This series contains daily observations of temperature, precipitation, and weather conditions from across Utah. The material is arranged alphabetically by place.
This series provides information about wind speed and direction in Milford, Salt Lake City, and Wendover. The material is arranged chronologically.
This series consists of ledgers used to record mean maximum temperature, mean minimum temperature, mean temperature, maximum temperature, minimum temperature, total precipitation, greatest precipitation, total snowfall, and number of rainy days, for locations across the state. The material is arranged alphabetically by location.
This series includes records of temperature, precipitation, wind, sunshine, and weather occurrences for Wendover, Utah and Cedar City, Utah. These materials are arranged chronologically.
This series contains charts that resemble those of a seismograph but were used to automatically record wind direction, velocity, sunshine, and rainfall at Lincoln, Lake Point, and the International Smelting Company.
This series is composed of newspaper clippings from across the state that address local weather events. They are arranged chronologically.
This series consists of loose weather data, files, or bound volumes that did not lend themselves to clear categorization. An attempt was made ot group similar materials.