COOPERATIVE
CORNER
NWS
Fort Worth COOP Newsletter: |
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National
COOP Newsletter: |
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NWS
Fort Worth Office Newsletter: |
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National
COOP Website
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Observers
Needed!!
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 is
one of 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
is:
- 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 Fort Worth has over 140+ COOP sites; the
second most for any NWS office in the Southern Region. These
sites are located at private residences, businesses, and lakes
across north Texas. All of the sites in north Texas 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.
RESOURCES,
GUIDES, AND INFORMATION
Requesting
Supplies
COOP Climate Data
- Daily
COOP Report -
A table of daily observations reported by our COOP Observers.
This table is generated and sent every day
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- NCDC
COOP Page -
Link to COOP records at the National Climatic Data Center
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- Regional
COOP Records, Normals, and Extremes - Select your location
on the map below for monthly normals of temperature,
precipitation and degree days. You will also see the monthly
and annual rainfall for each site for many years. Selecting
either DFW or Waco will provide extensive climatological data.
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WxCoder
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- WxCoder
Tips
- Tips for using the system and filling out your form each
month
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IV-ROCS
Forms
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- How to
correctly fill in your form (including tips):
B-91
B-92
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Fischer-Porter
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- Common
Fischer-Porter Problems --
Coming Soon!
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Snow
Severe Weather Reporting
CONTACT US!
Gerald
Shultz� COOP Program Manager
3401
Northern Cross Blvd
Fort
Worth, TX 76137
(817)
429-2631
Gerald.Shultz@noaa.gov
Select a location on the map below or from the menu beneath it.
You will find monthly and annual normals as well as archived precipitation totals.
Selecting either DFW or Waco will provide extensive climatological data.
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