| When | What |
| late 1500s | Galileo invented thermometer |
| 1600s | Invention of barometer, which measures air pressure |
| 1800s | Observations from enough locations and mariners logs that weather maps could be made; Telegraph allowed for information to move faster than the weather |
| 1910s | Norwegian scientists developed ideas of air masses and fronts |
| 1940s | Airplanes and weather balloons give recognition of 3-D nature of weather (e.g., jet streams) |
| 1950s | Weather radar comes into use; Introduction of computers |
| 1960s | Weather satellites come into usage |