# Finding weather for a city 50 years ago

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-weather-for-a-city-50-years-ago/279683>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 13, 2004, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-weather-for-a-city-50-years-ago/279683 "2004-12-13T23:59:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\
**Post date:** [December 13, 2004, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-weather-for-a-city-50-years-ago/279683/1 "2004-12-13T23:59:54Z")

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I would like to know what the weather was in Tucumcari, NM in 1959 on Christmas. How would I go about it?

If not Tucumcari, how about Amarillo, Texas, Albuquerque, NM and/or Santa Rosa, NM?

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**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\
**Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-weather-for-a-city-50-years-ago/279683/2 "2004-12-14T00:09:08Z")

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I’d think that reference libraries local to the places might have the old newspapers on micorfilm. OR find the relevant newspapers themselves, who probably have it on microfilm. Or could you enquire of the locally relevant Meteorogical Office?

Caveat - Because I’m in the U.K., I might be wrong 'cos it’s sleepy time, and I might be wrong anyway, but I do think those are t hings to consider.

It was probably a dark and stormy night anyway.🙂

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**Author:** ![TV\_time](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/f17d59/32.png) [@TV\_time](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TV_time)\
**Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-weather-for-a-city-50-years-ago/279683/3 "2004-12-14T00:18:06Z")

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> [@Celyn](#):
>
> I’d think that reference libraries local to the places might have the old newspapers on micorfilm. OR find the relevant newspapers themselves, who probably have it on microfilm. Or could you enquire of the locally relevant Meteorogical Office?

Library for the community of Tucumcari doesn’t go back that far and the newspaper is missing issues from June through Dec. of 1959.

I’ll see if they have a weather station there. Thanks. Will have to wait until tomorrow, however. Probably everthing is closed down now - early evening there.

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**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\
**Post date:** [December 14, 2004, 1:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/finding-weather-for-a-city-50-years-ago/279683/4 "2004-12-14T01:14:48Z")

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I suppose someone else knows more about this than I do, but if you go to the [National Climactic Data Center](http://lwf.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/ncdc.html), you can search for a weather station (the one at the [Amarillo airport](http://www4.ncdc.noaa.gov/cgi-win/wwcgi.dll?wwDI~StnSrch~StnID~20025849) has historical data starting at 1932, frex). It appears that you can then request historical data to be emailed directly to you. I think. Give it a shot.