Celebrating 150 years of Monthly Weather Review

December 2022

"Preoccupations of a Journal Editor": Still Preoccupied

The December 2022 Editorial marks the final in the series celebrating MWR's 150 years. It also marks the end of Chief Editor David M. Schultz's 22 years of service with MWR. In his final Editorial Dr. Schultz returns to G. K. Batchelor's influential "Preoccupations of a Journal Editor", and reflects on Batchelor's thoughts in light of his own experiences with MWR.

Figure 1 from the Editorial shows the principal reasons for rejection of the 100 most recently rejected manuscripts at Monthly Weather Review from 2022. The reasons are categorized into four categories (colored): inherent problems with the manuscript (blue), an improved approach to the science is needed (black), new knowledge is poorly presented or minimal (green), and poor communication (red).

Figure 1 from Schultz, D. M., 2022: “Preoccupations of a Journal Editor”: Still Preoccupied. Mon. Wea. Rev., 150, 3123–3130, https://doi.org/10.1175/MWR-D-22-0306.1.

November 2022

How to Be a More Effective Author

This month's Editorial is from the entire MWR Editorial Board*, and is for all authors, from novices to veterans. The MWR Editors have compiled their top tips to help improve submissions, and help all authors navigate the writing and publishing process. The Editorial includes an appendix with a list of some of the writing resources this group of Editors has found particularly useful.

*David M. Schultz, Jeffrey Anderson, Tommaso Benacchio, Kristen L. Corbosiero, Matthew D. Eastin, Clark Evans, Jidong Gao, Joshua P. Hacker, Daniel Hodyss, Daryl Kleist, Matthew R. Kumjian, Ron McTaggart-Cowan, Zhiyong Meng, Justin R. Minder, Derek Posselt, Paul Roundy, Angela Rowe, Michael Scheuerer, Russ S. Schumacher, Stan Trier,and Christopher Weiss

September 2022

The Unexpected Humor of Monthly Weather Review

Showers of fish? Romantic odes to tropical storms? Odd noises from the sea? Even a serious and scholarly journal may sometimes have lighter moments, whether intentional or not. In this month's Editorial, MWR Chief Editor Dave Schultz and historian Sean Potter have rounded up some items for your enjoyment.

Victorian Anemometer

August 2022

A Shared Sesquicentennial: Monthly Weather Review and The Leipzig Meteorological Conference

August marks the 150th anniversary of a scientific meeting which helped establish standardized methods of observation and analysis, and which also paved the way for the meeting of the First International Meteorological Congress the following year. This month's MWR Editorial (Michael Börngen, Thomas Foken, and David M. Schultz) highlights works that have been published about the Leipzig Conference, from contemporary accounts to 21st century historical research.

Victorian Anemometer

June 2022

How to Be a More Effective Reviewer

This month's Editorial honors MWR's volunteer peer reviewers. Providing over a thousand reviews each year to MWR, these volunteers are vital to maintaining the high quality of the articles MWR publishes, with reviews that are "thoughtful, thorough, and constructive". The Editorial details what goes into such reviews, and provides insights for those just beginning their reviewing career.

Andrew Winters

Ryan Lagerquist

John Allen

Each year MWR and the other AMS journals recognize outstanding reviewer service through the Editor's Award. The 2022 awardees include three nominated for their service to MWR: Andrew Winters, Ryan Lagerquist, and John Allen (left to right respectively in the photos above).

April 2022

100 Years of L. F. Richardson’s Weather Prediction by Numerical Process

In addition to being Monthly Weather Review's 150th year, 2022 is also the 100th anniversary of the publication of Lewis Fry Richardson’s Weather Prediction by Numerical Process. This month's MWR Editorial, by MWR Chief Editor David M. Schultz and UC Dublin's Peter Lynch, highlights this milestone in meteorological history.

Weather Prediction by Numerical Process Title Page

Title page from Weather Prediction by Numerical Process (L.F. RIchardson, Cambridge University Press, publication date 1922. Reproduced with permission of the Licensor through PLSclear.).

March 2022

The March 2022 issue of MWR leads off with an Editorial telling the story of how developments in climate science led the AMS suite of journals to evolve and grow.

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February 2022

For this second month of celebrating Monthly Weather Review’s 150 years, we look back at the Presidents’ Day Snowstorm of 18–19 February 1979.

You can read about the storm and its scientific impacts in “The Presidents’ Day Snowstorm of 18–19 February 1979: Its History and Significance”, an Editorial from MWR’s Chief Editor David M. Schultz in the February issue of the journal.

And you can listen in on a wonderful conversation between Lance Bosart, Distinguished Professor of Atmospheric & Environmental Sciences at the University at Albany, State University of New York, and Louis Uccellini, recently retired director of the National Weather Service, about their seminal research around the the storm, which sparked a lot of debate on extratropical cyclone development.

Moderated by MWR’s Chief Editor David Schultz, the conversation was recorded in front of a live audience at the University at Albany on 17 November 2021. A very special thanks to Professor Emeritus Vince Idone for recording this conversation.

January 2022

To kick off Monthly Weather Review’s 150th year, MWR’s Chief Editor David M. Schultz and meteorologist and weather historian Sean Potter have done the deep dive and written an historical review paper: Monthly Weather Review at 150 Years: Its History, Impact, and Legacy”.

You can read their paper in the January 2022 issue of MWR. You can also attend their talk at the AMS Annual Meeting!

Most importantly, we want to hear from you, the community of readers, authors, reviewers and editors who are the heart of MWR! Use the “Tell us about your MWR” button below to share your experiences with the journal, your comments on Schultz and Potter’s history, or how you are using MWR in your work today. We’ll be sharing your comments over the next months.

Tell us about your MWR

First issue of MWR
First issue of MWR

The complete first issue of Monthly Weather Review from January 1873: One page of text and one figure! Scans courtesy of Deirdre Clarkin, NOAA Central and Regional Libraries.

A journal can pack a lot of history into 150 years! Here’s a handy set of links to each section in Schultz and Potter’s Historical Review if you want to dip in and out!

Monthly Weather Review at 150 Years: Its History, Impact, and Legacy

1. Introduction

2. History: Signal Service (1873–91)

3. History: Weather Bureau (1891–1973)

4. History: American Meteorological Society (1973–present)

5. The contents of Monthly Weather Review

6. What contributes to a journal's longevity?

7. Conclusions

Appendix, references, and more