Experiments

FitzRoy's Storm Warnings and Daily Forecasts

Citation Formats

General Reference

Science Atlas. "FitzRoy's Storm Warnings and Daily Forecasts." Accessed August 30, 2026. https://dev-science.interactiveatlas.org/experiments/fitzroys-storm-warnings-and-daily-forecasts.

APA Style

Science Atlas. (n.d.). FitzRoy's Storm Warnings and Daily Forecasts. Retrieved August 30, 2026, from https://dev-science.interactiveatlas.org/experiments/fitzroys-storm-warnings-and-daily-forecasts

BibTeX

@misc{scienceatlas-fitzroy-s-storm-warnings-and-daily-forec,
  author = {Science Atlas},
  title = {FitzRoy's Storm Warnings and Daily Forecasts},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://dev-science.interactiveatlas.org/experiments/fitzroys-storm-warnings-and-daily-forecasts},
  note = {Accessed August 30, 2026}
}

Beginning in 1861, Robert FitzRoy's Meteorological Department used telegraph reports from coastal stations to issue storm warnings to British ports and to publish, in The Times, what he called weather forecasts, the first regular public forecasts issued by any government. The warnings were far from reliable by later standards and drew criticism in FitzRoy's own lifetime, but the practice of turning current observations into a public, near-term prediction, rather than an almanac-style seasonal guess, was new, and the department he built continued after his death as the Met Office.

Facts

Yearthe subject's own account

1861 1

Methodthe subject's own account

Fifteen coastal land stations transmitted daily weather reports to FitzRoy's Meteorological Department by telegraph; from 1860 he had storm-warning cones hoisted at principal ports when a gale was expected, and from 1861 the department issued published daily forecasts. 1

Key Findingthe subject's own account

The system produced the first published daily weather forecasts, appearing in The Times from 1861; FitzRoy coined the term weather forecast after the 1859 loss of the Royal Charter in a storm his warning system was built to prevent. 1

Locationthe subject's own account

London, under the Board of Trade's Meteorological Department, linked by telegraph to fifteen coastal stations around Britain and to principal ports where storm-warning cones were hoisted. 1

Cross-Tradition Connections