Henry Francis Blanford

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Henry Francis Blanford (1834-1893) was a meteorologist and paleontologist who worked in India. He was a brother of the naturalist William Thomas Blanford.

He studied geology at the Royal School of Mines and joined the Geological Survey of India in 1855. He studied the coal deposits of Orissa. His interest in meteorology grew after his appointment as professor of science at the Presidency College in Calcutta in 1862. In 1864, cyclones hit Eastern India, killing 70,000 and damaging the port of Calcutta. Blanford co-wrote a report on the subject and was subsequently appointed secretary of the commission created to establish a system of storm warnings in order to protect Calcutta's harbour.

Blanford was placed in charge of the Bengal Province Meteorological Department, which covered Calcutta, in 1867. The regionalised nature of these local organisations was soon found to be a problem, and in 1875, the India Meteorological Department was founded, with Blanford in charge.

He initiated publication of the department's scientific results and made long-term weather forecasts using the link between the nature of snow in the himalayas and rainfall in the rest of India.

He was also for some time the president of the Asiatic Society.

[edit] Publications

• Indian Meteorologist's Vade Mecum, (circa 1875)
• Climates and Weather of India ( 1889)