From the skies of Jupiter to Earth-monitoring satellites, Italy’s relationship with meteorology spans centuries of observation, interpretation, and scientific innovation. Though often overshadowed by other nations in discussions of weather science, Italy has played a crucial and continuous role in the development of meteorological understanding, bridging divination, empiricism, and space technology through the centuries.
In antiquity, weather was a source of divine messages: the Romans institutionalized this belief through the practice of augury, a form of divination in which trained priests interpreted the will of the gods by observing the flight of birds and other natural signs, including atmospheric events.