The Storm Glass, Weather Forecast Barometer Tear Drop Design with Elegant Base

The storm glass was an instrument which was proposed as a method for predicting weather. It consists of a special liquid placed inside a sealed transparent glass. The state of crystallisation within the liquid is believed to be related to the weather.

The inventor is unknown, but the device became popular in the 1860’s after being promoted by Admiral Robert FitzRoy who claimed that;

“If fixed, undisturbed, in free air, not exposed to radiation, fire, or sun, but in the ordinary light of a well-ventilated room or outer air, the chemical mixture in a so-called storm-glass varies in character with the direction of the wind, not its force, specially (though it may so vary in appearance only) from another cause, electrical tension.”

FitzRoy carefully documented his claims on how the storm glass would predict the weather:

*If the liquid in the glass is clear, the weather will be bright and clear.

*If the liquid is cloudy, the weather will be cloudy as well, perhaps with precipitation.

*If there are small dots in the liquid, humid or foggy weather can be expected.

*A cloudy glass with small stars indicates thunderstorms. *If the liquid contains small stars on sunny winter days, then snow is coming.

*If there are large flakes throughout the liquid, it will be overcast in temperate seasons or snowy in the winter. *If there are crystals at the bottom, this indicates frost.

*If there are threads near the top, it will be windy.

A version of the device was available in the 18th century in France but the inventor is unknown. In 1859, violent storms struck the British Isles and in response, the British Crown distributed storm glasses, then known as “FitzRoy’s storm barometers,” to many small fishing communities around the British Isles for consultation by ships in port before setting sail.