The librarian is: BLOGGING | Journalism Library, Columbia University

The Journalism Library Blog has MOVED! This site is no longer being updated as of July 2009. Come find us at our new location:

https://blogs.cul.columbia.edu/journalism

See you there!

The Katrina Files is the latest report from the
UCLA-based Center for Communications and Community. It includes critiques of Hurricane Katrina coverage, community and independent media, research reports on Katrina and its aftermath, and a section for the public to submit materials.

[Thanks to Prof. June Cross for suggesting this site!]

Over the past couple of years, I’ve heard from increasing numbers of
students (some working on final touches to their Master’s projects) who want to retrieve temperature and precipitation data for a date in the past. So I am pleased to present to you…

The Quickie Guide to Finding Past Weather (While Remaining Unable To Do Anything About It):

For recent past (back to 2001), Weather Underground is a good, quick source. Just type in a zip code or other location in the search box. You’ll get the current forecast, and by clicking on “History” you can get temperature, precipitation and sunrise/sunset times. WARNING: Though the site seems to offer historical, the data earlier than 2000 does not appear to be complete.

For weather going WAY back, here’s a direct link to the site from the
National Weather Service that archives data back to 1876, using the Central Park weather station as an example. (If you are looking for weather observations from a different location - the other two are LaGuardia and JFK - follow the link to “Other Stations in New York.” These are the only active weather stations in the NYC area.)

Once you’ve found the page for the weather station that interests you, scroll down, about halfway down the page to “Forms,
Publications, and Web Pages,” you will see a link to “Record of
Climatological Observations” which covers temperature and precipitation (and is available back to 1876 for the Central Park weather station).

Note: Access to this data is free ONLY if you connect from a computer located on a campus (from a .edu domain) - otherwise, you may need to pay for it.