Amherst College Archives and Special Collections. All rights reserved.
© 2002 Amherst College. All rights reserved.
The Amherst College Weather Records contain the climatological data recorded by Professor Ebenezer Strong Snell (Class of 1822) and his daughter Sabra Snell from 1835 to 1902; observations recorded by the Hatch Experimental Station at the Massachusetts Agricultural College from 1891 to 1924; and by Dr. Philip Ives (Class of 1932) from 1984 to date.
Professor Snell's original ledgers contain his weather observations noted at least twice daily in the morning and the afternoon. These are among the earliest on record for Massachusetts. After Snell's death in 1876, the work was carried on by his daughter until 1902. The observations from the Massachusetts Agricultural College cover from 1891 to 1924. In October 1948, Dr. Philip Ives began to collect climatological data at the college weather station. This continues to date.
This collection is organized into four series:
There is no restriction on access to the Amherst College Weather Station Records for research use. Particularly fragile items are restricted for preservation purposes.
Requests for permission to publish material from the Amherst College Weather Station Records for research use should be directed to the Archives and Special Collections. It is the responsibility of the researcher to identify and satisfy the holders of all copyrights.
Please use the following format when citing materials from this collection:
[Identification of item], in Amherst College Weather Station Records [Box #, folder #], Amherst College Archives and Special Collections, Amherst College Library
The meteorological journals kept by Professor Snell seem to have been given to the College by Members of the Snell family. In the fall of 1989, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst transferred their weather observations from 1891 to 1924 to the Amherst College Archives. Dr. Ives deposits his climatological data annually.
"Preface to the Amherst, Massachusetts, Weather Records," by Philip T. Ives, in Series 3
Series 1: METEOROLOGICAL JOURNALS, 1835-1902, contains 5 volumes, arranged chronologically. The data in the volumes include: data, hour, barometer, thermometer, wind direction and strength, clouds, sky, precipitation, and remarks.
Series 2: HATCH EXPERIMENT STATION METEOROLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS, 1891-1924, contains two volumes, arranged chronologically. The data in the volume include: monthly summaries and daily summaries which list barometric pressure, temperature, humidity, wind, precipitation, weather conditions, bright sunshine, and halos. There is also a remarks page at the end of each month.
Series 3: PUBLICATION, COMPILATIONS, AND SUMMARIES, contains materials compiled by Dr. Philip Ives: compilations and summaries of weather data; articles and talks and a monograph prepared by Dr. Ives and news clippings of published Amherst weather data. Also contains THE CLIMATE OF AMHERST, MASSACHUSETTS, 1836-1985, by Raymond S. Bradley, Jon K. Eischeid and Philip T. Ives, a 108-page volume containing tables, figures and plates, published in August 1986 as Contribution No. 50 of the Department of Geology & Geography, University of Massachusetts at Amherst. It acknowledges Dr. Ives as the "driving force behind this publication" and explains how his work with the records kept at Amherst College and those kept by the Massachusetts Agricultural Experiment Station in the late 19th Century have made the Amherst records one of the most important meteorological series in the country. Material is arranged by subject and type.
Series 4: DAILY WEATHER DATA, 1948 to date, contains records of the minimum, maximum, and mean temperatures; degree-days; precipitation; and a general description of the weather.