The Missouri in the Civil War Message Board

Re: Missouri Weather Conditions Winter 1862

Now for the interesting triva answer....

Weather Observations were under the auspices of the Army Surgeon General's office starting in 1814 and going through at least 1876. It was the responsibilty of the Union Army Surgeon (and to some extent the CSA followed suit) to collect daily observations of temperature, rainfall, and wetbulb readings. To this end each fixed and mobile hospital had a set of weather instruments and it was the responsibilty of the senior surgeon in charge to make sure the readings were taken. Detailed daily entries are available for a number of locations in the National Climate Data Center's database that were the result of these medical corps observations.

For more see if you can find

Directions for Taking Meteorological Observations Adopted by the Medical Department of the United States Army. U.S. Army Surgeon General’s Office. War Department, 1844

The Foundation of American Meteorology by the United States Army Medical Department. Lieutenant Colonel Edgar Erskine Hume (Medical Corps, U.S. Army). Military Surgeon 87, pp 89-118. Aug 1940

Regulations for the Medical Department of the Army. U.S. Army Surgeon General’s Office. War Department, 1856.

Oklahoma State University has an extensive collection of early weather records on microfiche including records from Fort Washita OK.

John R (MD)

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Missouri Weather Conditions Winter 1862
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Manhattan KS Data
Winter of 61-62
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Re: Missouri Weather Conditions Winter 1862
Re: Missouri Weather Conditions Winter 1862