Homogenising the rainfall record at Durham for the 1870s

The rainfall record from the Durham University Observatory (UK) in the 1870s is examined: this decade was a very wet one nationally, but the Durham totals seem too high. Comparison with data from nearby gauges in northeast England and with a more distant gauge at Edinburgh confirms that this is so. The cause is most likely related to a faulty raingauge in use from January 1872; the problem was apparently rectified by August 1879. Analysis confirms inhomogeneities in the original time series; corrections are applied based on nearby raingauges and a smaller 8-inch gauge in use at the Observatory. In the corrected record, 1872 remains the wettest year at Durham and 1877 ranks fifth. However, the 1870s no longer ranks as the wettest decade, the 1930s and 1960s both being slightly wetter.