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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.
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