Cooperative Weather Observer Program
With all of the state-of-the-art technology associated with the modernization of the National Weather Service there remains a program administered by the Weather Service that has stayed virtually unchanged since its inception over a hundred years ago. This is the Cooperative Weather Observer Program where over 11,000 volunteer weather observers across the country record daily temperature and precipitation data. Some also record or report additional information such as soil temperature, evaporation and wind movement, agricultural data, water equivalent of snow on the ground, river stages, lake levels, atmospheric phenomena, and road hazards. Many Cooperative Stations in the United States have been collecting weather data from the same location for over 100 years.The first extensive network of cooperative stations was set up in the 1890's as a result of an act of congress in 1890 that established the Weather Bureau, but many of its stations began operation long before that time. John Companius Holm's weather records, taken without the benefit of instruments in 1644 and 1645, were the earliest known observations in the United States. Subsequently many persons, including George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin, maintained weather records. Jefferson maintained an almost unbroken record of weather observations between 1776 and 1816 and Washington took his last weather observation just a few days before he died. Two of the most prestigious awards given to Cooperative Weather Observers are named after Holm and Jefferson.
Because of it's many decades of relatively stable operation, high station density, and high proportion of rural locations, the Cooperative Network has been recognized as the most definitive source of information on U.S. climate trends for temperature and precipitation. Cooperative Stations form the core of the U.S. Historical Climate Network (HCN) and the U.S. Reference Climate Network.
Equipment to gather this data is provided and maintained by the National Weather Service and data forms are sent monthly to the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) in Asheville, North Carolina, where data are digitized, quality controlled, and subsequently archived. Volunteer weather observers regularly and conscientiously contribute their time so that their observations can provide the vital information needed. These data are invaluable in learning more about the floods, droughts, and heat and cold waves which inevitably affect everyone. They are also used in agricultural planning and assessment, engineering, environmental-impact assessment, utilities planning, and litigation and play a critical role in efforts to recognize and evaluate the extent of human impacts on climate from local to global scales. Many Cooperative Weather Observers report daily precipitation to River Forecast Centers in support of the National Weather Service Hydrology Program as well.
Like fine wine, weather records become more valuable with age. Long and continuous records provide an accurate 'picture' of a locale's normal weather, and give climatologists and others a basis for predicting future trends.
Satellites, high-speed computers, mathematical models, and other technological breakthroughs have brought great benefits to the Nation in terms of better forecasts and warnings. But without the century-long accumulation of accurate weather observations taken by volunteer observers, scientists could not begin to adequately describe the climate of the United States.
