A treasure trove of weather records from the early 20th century has been uncovered, revealing the climate history of Puerto Madryn, a city nestled on the eastern coast of Patagonia, Argentina. These records offer a rare glimpse into the past, detailing daily temperatures, atmospheric pressure, and humidity levels. This discovery sheds light on how climate patterns have evolved over a century, providing valuable insights for understanding current and future climate trends.
A recent study has unearthed valuable historical weather data from Puerto Madryn, Patagonia, Argentina, covering over a decade. This research was led by Dr. Susan Lakkis from The Pontifical Catholic University of Argentina, along with Dr. Pablo Canziani and Professor Adrián Yuchechen from the National Technological University, Argentina. Published in the journal Climate, it meticulously recovered and validated daily measurements of maximum, minimum, and mean temperatures, atmospheric pressure, and relative humidity from this period.
The primary motivation behind this research was to enhance our understanding of historical climate variability and its long-term trends. Historical weather data is crucial for climate science, as it provides a baseline for contextualizing and validating future climate projections. Puerto Madryn, located on the eastern coast of Patagonia, is a region significantly influenced by mid-latitude westerlies, making it an essential site for studying climate patterns.
Dr. Lakkis and the team conducted a thorough evaluation of the data quality using internal coherence, tolerance, and temporal consistency tests. They found that while the temperature measurements showed high agreement with reanalysis values, there were some discontinuities in the pressure and relative humidity data. The study highlighted the importance of integrating historical observations with modern reanalysis products to improve the reliability of climate data.
One of the significant findings of this study was the strong correlation between the historical temperature data and the Twentieth Century Reanalysis series, showing a very high degree of agreement. This indicates that the recovered temperature data accurately reflect the climatic conditions of the early 20th century. However, the correlation was lower for pressure and relative humidity, suggesting some inconsistencies in these measurements.
The research also utilized the Mann–Kendall test to assess trends in the data. The results showed no significant trends in the annual series of the studied variables, which is consistent with the lack of observed climate change impacts during the early 20th century. The research further analyzed the relationship between relative humidity and other variables, confirming an inverse correlation with temperature but no significant dependence on pressure.
In summary, this study has provided critical insights into the region’s climate during the early 20th century. These findings contribute to our understanding of historical climate variability and offer a robust dataset for future climate studies. Dr. Lakkis remarked, “Our work underscores the importance of historical weather data in improving our understanding of climate variability and long-term trends. By integrating these observations with modern reanalysis products, we can enhance the accuracy of climate projections.” This research demonstrates the potential of historical weather data to inform contemporary climate science and emphasizes the need for continued efforts in data rescue and validation.
Journal Reference
Lakkis, S.G., Canziani, P.O., & Yuchechen, A.E. Unlocking Weather Observations at Puerto Madryn-Patagonia, Argentina, 1902–1915. Climate, 2024. DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/cli12040052
About the Authors
Dr. Susan Lakkis has a PhD in Physics from the University of Buenos Aires (2009) and is full research at the National Technological University (UTN), Facultad Regional Buenos Aires (FRBA) working at Unidad de Investigación y Desarrollo para las Ingenierías (UIDI) since 2015. She also develops research activities at the Pontificia Universidad Católica Argentina (UCA), since 2006. Her research work is framed in the areas of climatology and dynamics of the troposphere/stratosphere, cloud dynamics, particularly cirrus clouds, detection and tracking of cyclonic systems in the Southern Hemisphere, application of climate studies to climate adaptation processes, climate variability and change, extreme events and recovery of historical climate data. She has published more than 30 research articles in international peer-reviewed journals and actively participates in teaching and human resources training as well as several jury committees of master and doctoral students.
