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A young volunteer in Granger, Utah (around 1930) operates a cooperative weather station where he observes temperature, precipitation, sky conditions, etc. Courtesy NWS.
“The whole point is that person is helping out their neighbors by sharing that information”.
Chad Gimmestad - NWS Senior Meteorologist From minute 12:18 of episode 1 of The Crowd & The Cloud
Could you help save lives with your homemade weather instruments? Maybe so!
The National Weather Service Cooperative Observer Program is a network of more than 11,000 volunteers who report weather observations from farms, urban and suburban areas, National Parks, seashores, and mountaintops. Data from volunteer weather observers are used to defi ne the climate of the United States and to help measure long-term climate changes, as well as to provide real-time information to support forecasts, warnings, and other public service programs of the National Weather Service.
The Cooperative Observer Program was offi cially created in 1890, but the history of volunteer weather observers is even older. John Campanius Holm recorded the earliest known weather observations in the United States in 1644-45. George Washington, Thomas Jeff erson, and Benjamin Franklin were also serious weather observers. Thomas Jeff erson maintained an almost unbroken record of weather observations between 1776 and 1816, and George Washington took his last observation just a few days before he died.
An essential part of any weather observing station is a system for keeping accurate records of observations. Here’s how to set up a Weather Journal, and some tips for making weather forecasts from your observations!
Copies of “Weather Journal Data Form”
Below is a general summary of wind and barometer indications in the United States. The amateur forecaster should modify the table as needed, based on his or her own observations. Barometric pressures in this table are in inches of mercury at sea level. If you use local weather reports to calibrate your instruments, you don’t have to worry about this because official measurements are converted to sea level before they are reported to the public. A general rule of thumb is that atmospheric pressure decreases by one inch of mercury for every 1,000 feet of elevation.
Are you interested in becoming a volunteer weather observer? SKYWARN is a volunteer program established by NOAA’s National Weath- er Service and partner groups to identify and describe severe local storms. Since the program started in the 1970s, information provided by SKYWARN Spotters has helped the Nation- al Weather Service to issue more timely and accurate warnings for tornadoes, severe thun- derstorms, and flash floods. In some areas, Spotters also are trained on warning signs for earthquakes, landslides, avalanches, volcanic ashfall, and coastal hazards such as tsunamis, water spouts, and rip currents. See https://www. weather.gov/skywarn/ for more information.
