WVIC Dam Operators Honored by the National Weather Service

Seven members of the Wisconsin Valley Improvement Company operations staff were honored Wednesday, August 16, 2006 by the National Weather Service for their many years of dedication as weather observers.

Gary R. Austin, meteorologist in charge of the Green Bay weather forecast office, presented the awards in a ceremony at the Back When Café in Wausau, Wis. Program manager Patrick L. Hein of the Green Bay office nominated the WVIC dam operators for the awards.

Charles Longwitz Receives the Thomas Jefferson Award

Recognizing more than 59 years of dedication, NOAA’s National Weather Service named Minocqua dam operator Charles Longwitz as a 2006 recipient of the agency’s Thomas Jefferson Award for outstanding service in the Cooperative Weather Observer Program. The award is the agency’s most prestigious and only six are presented this year to cooperative weather observers from around the country.

A disabled World War II American veteran, Longwitz established the Minocqua observing station when he was hired as Minocqua Reservoir dam tender by the Wisconsin Valley Improvement Co. on April 1, 1947, recording daily temperature, snowfall, snow depth and water equivalent. In his many years as a volunteer, Longwitz has recorded such extremes as the all-time record low for the site of minus-48 degrees F. Feb. 3, 1996, and the record snowfall of 162 inches, also that year. According to Weather Service records, Longwitz has measured about 1,889 inches of precipitation and 6,608 inches of snowfall. He has provided the week’s weather data to the Lakeland Times newspaper for the past 35 years and, at age 87, continues his service to the people of north-central Wisconsin.

John Caskey Receives the John Campanius Holm Award

Recognizing more than 58 years of service to America, NOAA’s National Weather Service has named Lac Vieux Desert, Wis. resident John Caskey as a 2006 recipient of the agency’s John Campanius Holm Award for outstanding service in the Cooperative Weather Observer Program. The award is the agency’s second most prestigious and only 25 are presented this year to cooperative weather observers from around the country.

Caskey established the Lac Vieux Desert observing station on May 1, 1948, as part of his employment with the Wisconsin Valley Improvement Company. Providing daily snowfall, snow depth and water equivalent reports, Caskey has measured nearly 1,960 inches of precipitation and more than 6,664 inches of snowfall. “Cooperative observers are the bedrock of weather data collection and analysis,” said retired U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. David L. Johnson, director of NOAA’s National Weather Service. “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. We cannot thank Mr. Caskey enough for his years of service to America.”

Tiffany, Guth, Jones, Koth, and Konopacky Receive Service Awards

Tom Tiffany, dam operator at Willow Reservoir near Hazelhurst, Jon Guth, operator at Eau Pleine Reservoir near Mosinee, Bill Jones, operator St. Germain, and Jim Koth, operator at Rice and Spirit Reservoirs near Tomahawk were all honored with 15-year service awards from NOAA’s National Weather Service. Dan Konopacky, field supervisor at Rainbow Reservoir near Lake Tomahawk was honored with a 10-year service award.

The NWS Cooperative Weather Observer program has given scientists and researchers continuous observational data since the program’s inception more than a century ago. Today, more than 11,700 volunteer observers participate in the nationwide program to provide daily reports on temperature, precipitation and other weather factors such as snow depth, river levels and soil temperature.

Weather records retain their importance as time goes by. 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. These data are invaluable for scientists studying floods, droughts and heat and cold waves. At the end of each month, observers mail their records to the National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) for publication in “Climatological Data” or “Hourly Precipitation Data.”

The first extensive network of cooperative stations was set up in the 1890s as a result of an 1890 act of Congress that established the U.S. Weather Bureau. Many of the stations have even longer histories. John Campanius Holm’s weather records, taken without benefit of instruments in 1644 and 1645, were the earliest known recorded observations in the United States.

Many historic figures have also maintained weather records, including Benjamin Franklin, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson maintained an almost unbroken record of weather observations between 1776 and 1816, and Washington took weather observations just a few days before he died. The Jefferson and Holm awards are named for these weather observation pioneers.

Minocqua Dam Operator Chuck Longwitz Receives the Thomas Jefferson

Award from Gary Austin, NWS Green Bay

Lac Vieux Dam Operator John Caskey Receives the John Campanius Holm

Award from Gary Austin, NWS Green Bay

WVIC Dam Operators with National Weather Service awards. From left to right;

Jon Guth - Eau Pleine Reservoir, Dan Konopacky - Rainbow Reservoir,

Chuck Longwitz - Minocqua Reservoir, John Caskey - Lac Vieux Desert Reservoir,

Jim Koth - Rice and Spirit Reservoirs, and Tom Tiffany - Willow Reservoir.

Unable to attend was Bill Jones - St. Germain.