But until now, even specialists could hardly access data pre-dating the mid-19th century. It was only with the advent of measuring instruments that weather data were recorded systematically. Therefore, historical documents are of major value for research and practice. Dating back to the Middle Ages, they come from sources such as chronicles, personal weather diaries, and the accounting systems of early public buildings such as hospitals.
With the relaunch of the “Euro-Climhist” database – which was built up through many years of work by the Oeschger Centre’s group for climate and environmental history – such historical data are now publicly available on a large scale and for free. At www.euroclimhist.unibe.ch, both specialists and lay people can access a broad range of Swiss data – with the first new module covering the period from 1500 to the official launch of instrument-aided measurement in 1864. Another module covering European weather and climate data from the Middle Ages (1000-1500) is currently in preparation.
“Euro-Climhist” is co-financed by the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss as part of Switzerland’s Global Climate Observing System (GCOS).