The discovery of air pressure paved the way
A storm glass is a barometer and measures air pressure.
Air pressure was first discovered in the mid-18th century, and since then the storm glass has been a reliable and recognized tool for predicting the weather – and storms in particular. Hence the name storm glass.
A storm glass looks simple, but it consists of a special liquid with camphor added. The camphor behaves differently in the storm glass depending on how the weather develops. The shape and distribution of crystals tells you what the weather is expected to be like.
The Stormglass was part of Charles Darwin’s famous circumnavigation of the globe
The inventor of the storm glass is not known, but we do know that admiral, scientist and meteorologist Robert Fitzroy used storm glass to predict the weather throughout his career.
Likewise when he captained HMS Beagle from 1831 to 1836 and Charles Darwin’s famous circumnavigation of the globe, where Beaufort’s wind scale was first used for wind observations. Robert Fitzroy also wrote the famous and acclaimed ‘Weather Book’ in which he published his studies with storm glass. The book made weather forecasting popular throughout the population.
The British Royal Family sent storm glasses to the British Isles
A devastating storm was never again to take the population by surprise.
When the worst storm of the 19th century hit the Irish Sea on 25. and On October 26, 1859, more than 800 people lost their lives, 133 ships sank and 90 ships were seriously damaged. Clearly, weather forecasting was needed in the many fishing communities in the British Isles to prevent a similar disaster from happening again.
The British Royal Family therefore distributed ‘Fitzroy’s Stormglass’ to all the British Isles, and from then on the popularity of the storm glass soared.
The Inca Living storm glass has five different weather alerts
It is fascinating to watch the camphor in the storm glass take shape as the weather and air pressure change.
Every day, the storm glass tells people all over the world what the weather will be like in the next 48 hours.
With a storm glass you get reliable weather predictions, for example, whether it will be weather for a fishing trip, whether the sailboat is going out to sea or whether the crops will soon get water. Without the use of electricity and Internet.
The 5 weather alerts of the Stormglass
Fern-like shorelines – Cold and stormy
Fern-like crystals disappear – Weather improvement
Star crystals descending – Frost
Crystals everywhere in the liquid – Chance of rain
Completely clear liquid – Fine and dry weather
