Recovering Climate Data from Documentary Sources: A Study on the Climate in the South of Spain from 1792 to 1808

Abstract

This work analyses new climate data on Southern Spain during the period 1792–1808. The data source is the periodical Correo Mercantil de España y sus Indias (Mercantile Mail of Spain and the Spanish Indies), which published weekly summaries of the weather conditions in Spain over this period. The study focuses on the southern provinces, providing 2788 new records, some of them corresponding to areas with no previously recorded data (Córdoba, Jaén). The analysis indicates the predominance of cold and dry winters, cold and wet springs, warm and dry summers, and variable autumn conditions, cold and humid in the western provinces while warm and dry in the eastern provinces. Some examples of these situations are discussed.