The Carleton College Archives chose to highlight the meteorological record from January 1888, recorded by the Carleton College Weather Service.

Read the entry for January 12, 1888 using the viewer below. Use the zoom tools and move the document around to see it more clearly. You can also read the whole document using the < and > buttons on the sides.

Meteorological record, January 12, 1888, Carleton College Weather Service, Northfield, Minnesota

This item is from Carleton College’s collection of weather logbooks. In 1881, the U.S. Signal Corps placed a weather station at Carleton College’s observatory. Beginning in November of that year, Carleton began daily logging of meteorological data. Readings were manually recorded three times a day in the late 19th century and twice a day in the early to mid-20th century. Carleton’s weather station collected data not only for the U.S. Signal Corps, but it also sent weather information to local newspapers and briefly became the headquarters of the state weather service from 1883 to 1886.

Covering the years 1881-1910, the College's entire set of digitized weather diaries provide a detailed record of the weather in the region. This information could be of use to scientists and historians interested in the history of the region's climate and provides information unavailable from other sources.

This particular record is from January 12, 1888, the day of the infamous Children's Blizzard. In southern Minnesota, the day dawned sunny and clear, but a large blizzard was quickly moving in from the west. The people had no warning and many were caught outside – including schoolchildren. Between 250 and 500 people died in this storm due to the whiteout conditions and sudden drop in temperature.

I selected this particular item because, while it is not the most visually arresting item in Carleton's collection, it illustrates how even a seemingly routine item can provide a unique look into a time and an historic event. The simple, routine, factual recording of temperature, precipitation, and barometric pressure does not hint at the most deadly blizzard in Minnesota's history that was unfolding across the state and the region.

Carleton College in Northfield, Minnesota was founded in 1866 and produced its first college graduates in 1874. The materials from the Carleton Archives included in Minnesota Digital Library span the entire history of the college, with heavy focus on the first 100 years. In addition to photographs, postcards, and academic catalogs that document campus life and history, the collection includes architectural drawings of campus buildings; weather logbooks from Carleton’s Goodsell Observatory; and first-hand accounts of the 1876 James-Younger Gang's thwarted Northfield bank robbery.

Browse the Carleton College collection on MDL.

See more favorites using the page links below, or learn more about this exhibit.