An ill-defined cycle of about 35 years, first noted by Sir Francis Bacon in 1625 from evidence of an alternation of cool-damp and warm-dry periods in Holland. In 1890, the cycle was rediscovered by E. Brückner, who regarded it as a worldwide phenomenon. Unfortunately, it is not well-defined and has not been found to have forecasting value, although it shows up over certain periods in treering and rainfall records. It has been suggested that it may be related to random groups of three 11-year sunspot cycles (themselves irregular); by and large, the 22-year cycle is more important, particularly in subtropical data.
The following weather patterns were worked out by Brückner for northwestern Europe partly on the basis of noninstrumental data (such as harvests):
Warm: 1746–1755, 1791–1805, 1821–1835, 1851–1870.
Dry: 1756–1770, 1781–1805, 1826–1840, 1856–1870.
Cold: 1731–1745, 1756–1790, 1806–1820, 1836–1850, 1871–1885.
Wet: 1736–1755, 1771–1780, 1806–1825, 1841–1855, 1871–1885.
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References
Baur, F., 1951. Extended-range weather forecasting, in Compendium of Meteorology, T. F. Malone (ed.). Boston: American Meteorological Society, pp. 814–833.
Brooks, C. E. P., 1949. Climate Through the Ages. New York: McGraw-Hill.
Brückner, E., 1890. Klimaschwankungen seit 1700 nebst Bemerkungen über die Klimaschwankungen der Diluviatzeit, Geog. Abh. 4(2).
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Brückner, E., 1902. Zur Frage der 35 jährigen Klimaschwankungen, Petermanns Geog. Mitt., pp. 173–178.
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© 1987 Van Nostrand Reinhold
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Fairbridge, R.W. (1987). Brückner cycle . In: Climatology. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/0-387-30749-4_31
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