Oregon Agricultural College Voluntary Observers' Meteorological Records, 1889-1940

The Oregon Agricultural College Voluntary Observers' Meteorological Records are comprised of seven bound volumes of meteorological data collected by the Oregon Agricultural College (OAC) Agricultural Experiment Station in Corvallis, Oregon on behalf of the U.S. Weather Bureau between 1889 and 1940. Three volumes (1889-1901, 1901-1920, 1921-1940) are comprised of individual comparative tables for temperature, preciptation, wind direction, and cloud cover by calendar month and include monthly and yearly totals. Data from 1889-1900 was copied from records held in Portland, Oregon by W. L. Powers for retention by OAC in 1911. The volumes beginning 1901 and 1921 appear to have been updated as observations were taken.

Four additional volumes (1905-1916, 1917-1927, 1928-1934, 1935-1940) contain one-page observers' logs for each documented month and record daily temperatures, preciptation, wind direction, cloud cover, and other meteorological phenomena. Beginning in 1914, observers also recorded evaporation readings and, beginning in 1923, anemometric data (wind speed). Early records also include notes by observers on the character and impact of the weather, primarily in relation to local agriculture. Observations through July 1920 are handwritten.

Observers responsible for compiling this data include Edgar Grimm (April 1889-March 1890); John Fulton (July 1891-May 1898); Ellsworth P. Erwin (July 1898-October 1909); W. L. Powers (January 1910-August 1918); and Edward F. Torgerson (September 1918-December 1940). Also assisting in the collection of data were C. B. Lampkin (April 1890-July 1890); W. A. Lampkin (August 1890-October 1891); H. J. French (December 1891); Chas Jolmson (July 1892); Percival Nash (July 1894-June 1895); G. L. Plummer (June 1898); W. F. Groves (August 1898); E. J. Lea (September 1898-June 1900); F. W. McGinnis (July 1907); J. H. Edwards (November 1909); Max A. McCall (April 1912-June 1912); John E. Cooter (July 1912-July 1914); Harry A. Schoth (December 1915-February 1916); J. E. Pitman (October 1917-April 1918); C. W. Williams (May 1919-November 1919); W. M. Higby (June 1925-July 1925); and Harold W. C. Larson (June 1927-December 1927).