During the late nineteenth through the late twentieth century, thermometers, rain gauges, hygrothermographs, and barometers were standard hardware used by Washington growers. However, the invention of the transistor and integrated circuit and their rapid development for use in national defense and the “moon race” changed everything. The first microcomputer-based weather monitoring hardware appeared in the mid-1970s and revolutionized agrometeorology. Monitoring hardware evolved in parallel with other microcomputer technology, but it was the concurrent development of the data logger, personal computer, and radio frequency (RF) and telephone modems that brought real-time weather data directly into the farmer’s office or home. The […]