A historical climate dataset for southwestern Australia, 1830-1875

Abstract

Southwestern Australia is a high priority area for climate research as there has been a significant, anthropogenically influenced winter rainfall decline detected in the region since 1970. Here we present the oldest daily historical climate dataset for Perth, southwestern Australia, to provide an extended record for analysing pre-industrial climate variability and extremes from the region. This newly digitized record contains sub-daily observations of temperature, barometric pressure, wind direction and weather remarks, including rain days, from 1830 to 1875. Following quality control and homogeneity adjustments, we demonstrate that the historical dataset reliably resolves modern characteris..