History of Weather Forecating

Attempts at trying to predict the weather have always existed with evidence showing chinese weather predictions as far back as 300bc. The babolynians tried to predict the weather using cloud patterns. Over time this gave rise to weather lores such as "red sky in the morning, sheperds warning" meaning it could rain that day. Many of these lore haven't stood up to scientific scrutiny.

The two men most credited with the birth of forecasting as a science were Francis Beaufort (remembered chiefly for the Beaufort scale) and his protégé Robert Fitzroy (developer of the Fitzroy barometer). Both were influential men in British Naval and Governmental circles, and though ridiculed in the press at the time, their work gained scientific credence, was accepted by the British Navy and formed the basis for all of today's weather forecasting knowledge.

For a full and more detailed history of weather forecating click here.