Partial History of the Surface Weathermap

Weathermaps that were made from data well after the fact for research purposes were consrtucted in the 1830's and 1840's by Elias Loomis, James Pollard Epsy, and W.C. Redfield. Loomis's analysis of two storm systems in

February 1842 differed from Epsy and Redfield in that his analysis clearly suggested the presence of boundaries seperating differing wind flows. The advent of the telegraph around 1850 made it possible to plot and analize weathermaps in real time.

Yet, it wasn't until the 1890's into the early 1900's that researchers such as Max Margules,and Vilhelm Bjerknes studied the role distinct boundaries between airmases in the energetics of extratropical cyclones. Bjerknes introduced the analysis of fronts

on the weathermap in 1919.  Amazingly, the U.S. Weather Bureaudid not introduce fronts on the official U.S. Weather Bureau weathermaps until August 1941. The related works of Sverre Petterssen, Carl-Gustaf Rosby,

and Hurd C. Willett will also be briefly discussed.