Weather Instruments
In his lifetime, Ben Franklin made a number of discoveries and tinkered with various inventions. Weather was a topic that continuously fascinated him, and he gave us the famous quote, "Some are weatherwise; some are otherwise."
Throughout his life, he studied various aspects of the weather and proposed models to describe the progression of storm systems across North America. Franklin is particularly remembered for his kite-and-key experiments with lightning. Weather and the instruments used to measure it are still an important part of The Franklin Institute and its collections.
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Historical Weather Data for Philadelphia
Photo: William N. Jennings’ First Photograph of Lightning, 1882. From the Historical and Interpretive Collections of The Franklin Institute.
Benjamin Franklin was passionate about the weather and developing techniques for monitoring and forecasting weather. In 1743, Franklin observed that northeast storms begin in the southwest. On horseback, he chased a whirlwind almost a mile to find out why. "Poor Richard," aka Ben Franklin under a pseudonym, printed some of the first recorded weather forecasts.
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