Remember that figurative language is used to overpass the literal meaning of the words. It gives the reader a deeper look of what the author wants to express. It uses figures of speech, such as metaphors or similes, to do so.
In this case I think the author is using <u>Hyperbole </u>which exaggerates ideas in order to make emphasis on them. Here the author wants to make emphasis on the idea that people have always complained about the weather by saying that this has occurred for ages, even before history itself.
