BBC News Ni Weather Presenter
BBCThe Armagh Observatory is marking a very special meteorological milestone as the institute celebrates the continuous weather observation of 230 years.
The unbreakable tradition of handwritten data makes it the longest sequence of constant constant weather information collected anywhere in the UK and Ireland.
Organas are being organized at the Armagh Observatory on Monday to mark the important anniversary.
Nowadays, most weather data is collected only by automated weather stations, but not in the arm, where the human touch remains.
The first handwritten recording was done on the evening of 14 July 1795, when a graph was recorded at a graph at a graph sitting above the city of Armagh.
The measurement was repeated every day for the next day and the next 230 years.
Shane Kelly is currently a major meteorological supervisor at the observatory.
Since 1999, his role includes the opening that is known as the Stewenson screen that holds a sensitive thermometer, before he notes his readings for the day in the handwritten laser.
His hand has entered more rows of data than any of his 17 predecessors.
“You are almost inherent in the infrastructure,” Shane says.
“The observatory is astronomy, it is also meteorology, and after many years I think I am part of the brickwork.”
After taking readings in Armagh for 25 years, Shane says he has seen a change in the pattern of our season.
“The seasons are not clearly cut clearly because they used to be,” they explained.
“We are running here in a long season with two days of ice and there are some days of the sun.”
The 230 -year gap of weather figures in Armagh begins at a point when the science of meteorology was in its early stages.
Starting in 1795, it is published on the amendment of clouds on the essay of Luke Howard before eight years.
This influential book determined the naming system for clouds, which is still used today, with some modifications.
And supervisors in Armagh have left their mark on the development of science.
Records mention the major Arora events and there are some recorded observation of the first records of the Nuttylusant clouds that are such a feature of clear summer nights in the north of Ireland.
Entry to 6 January 1839, describes “tremendous thunderstorms at night”.
A sensible description of a storm killed between 250 and 300 people.
In 1908, when a pension was introduced for more than the 70s in Ireland, the memory of Oyich Na Gaaye Moire (The Night of the Big Wind) was used as a worthy question for people without birth certificate.
This may also inspire the third director of the observatory – Romney Robinson – to accurately measure the wind speed to develop a tool – four cups of anemometer.
Dr. Roking Negius, who is a tourism and outreach officer in the Armagh Observatory and Planetarium, stated that there were ways to measure the wind speed before the four cups of the anemometer, “but they were not very accurate”.
“Robinson thought of a device that can catch the air from any direction,” Dr. Nezial said, who is also a trained weather supervisor.
“There have been only small changes since the invention in 1845, but we still use it today.
“From Armag – taken worldwide.”
Widow was remembered as a ‘unuser hero’
The unbreakable sequence of the data recorded in the Armagh is largely written by men, but it was only thanked to a remarkable woman.
In 1917, Theresa Hardcastal arrived in Armagh from England with her children.
Her husband Yusuf was appointed as the next director of the observatory and Theresa arrived to oversee the repair of the house he was to share.
Before he could travel to join him, Joseph fell ill and died.
Mourning in Armagh, Theresa continued to make and record daily weather comments.
Jessica Moon describes Theresa from the Observatory and Planetarium as the “Unsang Hero” of the Armagh story.
“Nobody would have expected him to do so,” he said.
“This was not his role at all. He is an important detail in it.”
Today, many weather supervisors who have been trained by Shane Kelly come from all over the world.
For the current observatory director Professor Michael Burton, the hand is an important part of the training process for PhD students located in the hand arm on collecting weather data.
“The process of measurement is the heart of science,” he said.
“But this is not a simple process. And the process of getting hands – to be dirty with data – it is an important part in understanding what is there.
“Measuring the weather really teaches you a lot about science … it helps you understand your data.”
The important role in training future scientists and astronomers means that Armagh’s human relationship for the past season is ready to continue for many years to come.
