Introduction

Weather maps are embedded in our everyday lives. People often see a weather map, either consciously checking or as a segment of a larger piece of media, multiple times a day but give little thought to how or why the map looks and functions the way it does. This timeline is an introduction to the history of the weather map, giving the user an overview of the information presented by weather maps, the visual presentation of the information and when these developments were made. 

Materials

For this timeline I gathered data from Milestones in the History of Thematic Cartography. Statistical Graphics, and Data Visualization An illustrated chronology of innovations by Michael Friendly and Daniel J. Denis and An Interactive Timeline of the Most Iconic Infographics by RJ Andrews.

To create the timeline I used the assigned software, Knightlab TimelineJS an open-source tool to generate  visual and interactive timelines.

Method

Events to include on the timeline were chosen based on relevance to the development of weather maps. For example, the invention of the weather clock was included because this made the collection of meteorological data, used in the creation of weather maps, possible. I included the two versions of isothermal maps to illustrate how new maps were created based on previous work of other researchers.

Collected data, including year, event, description and media was plugged into the Google Spreadsheet generated by the TimelineJS software. I then used the preview function to see what the timeline would look like then made minor edits, such as changing the background image to one that worked better.

Results

Milestones in the History of Weather Maps Timeline

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Reflections

If I were to do the lab over again, I would choose a completely different topic. I chose weather maps on a whim because I needed to choose a topic or I would spend most of the time I had allocated to work in the timeline, trying to pick a topic. One of the reasons I chose weather maps over another random topic was that I thought it would offer interesting visuals to present on the timeline. While I wasn’t completely wrong, there haven’t been major changes made to weather maps, documented by the resources, since the development of the modern weather map when they became more colorful and visually appealing. 

If I were to make another timeline about the history of weather maps, I would try to make it more detailed and include events, such as the introduction of new technology, that led to advancements in the development of weather maps. I would also try to find reliable information about when different types of weather maps were introduced. I did some brief research but did not find reliable time frames for when they were popularized.