As the old joke goes, if you don’t like the weather here, just wait 5 minutes. Tracking weather conditions in Nevada has a long history. Government meteorological observations in Nevada date back to 1870 when the National Weather Service (NWS) was created within the U.S. Army Signal Corps under the War Department. These military meteorologists were stationed in Nevada until 1890 when the NWS was transferred to the U.S. Department of Agriculture because weather conditions were recorded for the benefit of commerce and agriculture. Weather conditions were reported three times a day: morning, afternoon, and night.
In Carson City, a local jeweler named Charles Friend established a weather observatory on the grounds located across the street from the current State Library and Archives Building on Stewart Street. Nevada Historical Marker No. 258, in what is now the park, commemorates his service. In 1883, the Nevada State Legislature passed an act to procure his meteorological reports for the state. Friend was successful in expanding weather observations in Nevada, and in 1887 the Nevada Legislature established the Nevada State Weather Service.
Charles Friend was designated the State Climatologist until his death in 1904. In 1905, the weather stations around the state were required to post their observations to the Salt Lake City bureau of the National Weather Service under the Department of Agriculture. In 1940, the National Weather Service was moved from the Department of Agriculture to the Department of Commerce.
In 1954, the National Weather Bureau Climatological Service Division created the State Climatologist Program thus reverting authority from the federal government back to the states. It would be several years until Nevada had another State Climatologist, but in January 1958 Merle J. Brown from Salt Lake City was appointed to the position. In February 1969, the Office of the State Climatologist was relocated from Utah to the University of Nevada, Reno. It is now called the Nevada State Climate Office and continues to produce climate summaries that are available online at https://extension.unr.edu/climate/.
We invite you to visit the State Archives during the next two months to view the Carson City and Reno weather condition summaries dating from 100 years ago, which are on display. Temperature, wind, precipitation, and cloud observations were written carefully in the ledgers and forms.
The State Archives has meteorological observations ledgers and forms recorded by volunteers dating from 1877-1979. For more information regarding the history of the State Climatologist & Weather Service and the finding aid to the collection, visit our website at https://nsla.nv.gov/archives-weatherservice. This collection contains invaluable primary source material with rich research potential for scholars and anyone interested in Nevada’s climate. The materials will be on display until March 29th, 2024. The State Archives is open to visitors from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, except for state holidays.
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