For 75 Years, Rain or Shine, He’s Weathered the Job : Oregonian: Cottage Grove resident hailed as the longest-serving volunteer in nation.
PORTLAND, Ore. — Earl Stewart has seen the highs and lows in Oregon for 75 years. Every day.
The 90-year-old Cottage Grove man has been a National Weather Service observer since 1917, making him the nation’s oldest and longest-serving volunteer weather watcher.
Through rain and snow and wind, Stewart has trudged out to a small white instrument shed in his back yard to make his daily observations at 6 p.m.
Temperatures and rainfall have been carefully recorded, year after year, and sent each month to the National Climatic Data Center in Asheville, N.C., for regional weather studies.
Inside the boxlike shed are two thermometers: One records the high temperature for the day, the other the low. A 75-year-old rain gauge sits on the ground behind the box.
“That rain gauge and that shelter have been sitting within 50 yards of where they were placed Oct. 1, 1917,†said National Weather Service spokesman George Miller.
“It is really kind of a marvel. It’s important when you’re able to get records from the same point over 75 years.â€
Miller said the climatologists use the data to determine if there are climatic changes. The records are used by city planners, engineers, legal firms, environmental groups and contractors.
Over the years, Stewart has made more than 27,000 observations. He’s seen it snow 3 feet in the winter of 1967-68, and he’s seen it rain more than 3 inches. He’s recorded wet times and dry times, although he admits that the current Oregon drought is the worst he’s ever seen.
He missed recording the high on only one day, when vandals smashed the instrument shed with sticks and rocks and broke the thermometer. He believes they mistook it for a beehive.
His faithful service has brought him a singular honor.
He has been named the first recipient of the “Earl Stewart Award for Serving 75 or More Years as a Cooperative Weather Observer.â€
In Stewart’s honor, Gov. Barbara Roberts has declared a “Cooperative Weather Observer Week†in Oregon.
The weather service has 347 cooperative weather observers in Oregon and about 10,500 nationally.
Stewart’s father, Clint, agreed to take on the chore of making the observations in 1916. When Earl was 15, he decided the daily duty would keep his active son out of trouble and turned the job over to him.
Stewart says he enjoys watching the weather and the change of seasons, but his years as an observer have not made him fanatical about the weather. He doesn’t study the records he keeps, he just likes helping out.
“As long as it’s a benefit to some people, and you’re doing some good for the inhabitants of the country, why not?†Stewart said.
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