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THE COOP PROGRAM
The Cooperative
Observer Program
(COOP) consists
of volunteer
weather
observers who
take and record
weather
observations
every day. The
data from these
COOP sites help
to fill in data
voids where
automated
weather stations
at airports
don't exist.
Across the
United States
and its
territories,
over 12,000 COOP
volunteers take
daily weather
readings every
day. The mission
of the COOP
Program is
two-fold:
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To provide
observational
meteorological
data,
usually
consisting
of daily
maximum and
minimum
temperatures,
snowfall,
and 24-hour
precipitation
totals,
required to
define the
climate of
the United
States and
to help
measure
long-term
climate
changes.
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To provide
observational
meteorological
data in near
real-time to
support
forecast,
warning and
other public
service
programs of
the NWS.
Data from these
COOP sites are
processed and
published in
various forms by
the National
Climatic Data
Center (NCDC) in
Asheville, North
Carolina. In
fact, the data
sent in by local
COOP observers
are among the
most requested
products from
the NCDC
archives! The
data is used by
thousands of
people and
organizations
including
government
agencies, lawyer
and insurance
groups, medical
fields,
construction
crews,
engineers,
farmers and
agriculture,
transportation,
real estate, and
many more! A
few ways that
the National
Weather Service
uses the COOP
data are:
- Daily weather forecasting
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- Maintain historical records and normals
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- Extreme weather events (severe and winter weather, heat waves, cold snaps, etc)
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- Verify severe and winter weather events
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- Climate study and climate change
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The National
Weather Service
office in
Seattle has over
140 COOP sites.
These sites are
located at
private
residences,
businesses,
National Parks, and
lakes across
Western
Washington. All
of the sites in
Western
Washington
record
precipitation
and over half of
them also report
temperature.
HISTORY OF THE
COOP PROGRAM
The history of
taking weather
observations
dates all the
way back to the
colonial days.
The earliest
known records
are those of
John Campanius
Holm who took
weather
observations in
the mid-1600s.
After him,
weather records
by famous people
such as George
Washington,
Thomas Jefferson
and Benjamin
Franklin have
also been found
and archived.
Thomas Jefferson
recorded an
unbroken weather
record from 1776
until 1816, and
George
Washington took
observations
until just days
before he died.
However, it was
Thomas Jefferson
who first
envisioned a
network of
weather
observers. He
managed to
recruit
volunteer
weather
observers in six
states including
Virginia,
Massachusetts,
Pennsylvania,
Connecticut, New
York and North
Carolina. In
1849, the
Smithsonian
Institute set up
a system for
receiving
weather data
from telegraph
companies, via
the telegraph,
and used the
data to produce
weather charts.
At the time,
there were 150
volunteers
sending in their
weather
observations.
The Weather
Bureau (now the
National Weather
Service) was
created under
the Organic Act
in 1890 and the
COOP program was
soon transferred
into their
responsibility.
By then, the
number of
weather
observers had
grown to around
2,000 stations.
However, it
wasn't until
1953 that the
push was made to
expand the
network across
the country. Dr.
Helmut Landsberg
conducted a
study with Iowa
State University
and came to the
conclusion that
an observation
site was needed
every 25 miles.
This is the
system that the
National Weather
Service uses
today. By 1990,
the number of
observers had
grown to 10,000
stations, and
today there are
over 12,000 COOP
stations.
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www.weather.gov 
