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The Cooperative observer program was introduced by Thomas Jefferson in 1776.
By 1816, he had established a network of volunteer weather observers in every county
in the state of Virginia. The network has now grown to over 11,000 stations throughout
the United States. Cooperative observer data is used in a variety of ways, including
climatology, meteorology, agriculture, aviation and research. The National Weather Service
volunteer cooperative observers are an invaluable resource to the nation and should be
applauded for their work and dedication.
NWS Sacramento took over a co-op program in early 1995, inheriting stations from
neighboring NWS offices in Reno, NV and Monterey, CA. NWS Sacramento has
approximately 115 co-op stations recording daily weather information throughout its
County Warning Area (CWA),
and some beyond it's borders. This large area of varied terrain includes the Sierra Nevada
from the northern portion of Yosemite National Park to north of Lassen Volcanic National
Park - the San Joaquin and Sacramento Valleys, from Turlock in the south to around Redding in the
north - and the east side of the Coastal Ranges from Lake County north to Whiskeytown Lake.
A new addition to the Co-op Program is WxCoder. This system allows observers
to enter and record their daily observations via the internet.
If you would like to obtain any of the data compiled by co-op observers, please contact
the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, NC
at 704-271-4800, or the
Western Region Climate Center in Reno, NV at 702-677-3140.
If you are a co-op observer and
have questions, need supplies, or have
an equipment problem, please write to
our Cooperative
Program Manager through our Webmaster
e-mail address.
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www.weather.gov 
