National Weather Service recognizes Matanuska Experiment Farm for providing 100 years of weather observations

The National Weather Service Weather Forecast Office in Anchorage, Alaska is proud to recognize the Matanuska Experiment Farm and Extension Center in Palmer, Alaska for over a century of distinguished service to the Nation through the Cooperative Observer Program. Dr. Scott Lindsey, Alaska Region Director, will present this award during a ceremony to be held on July 6, 2022.

The Matanuska Experiment Farm and Extension Center is a working research farm serving Southcentral Alaska. Dedicated staff at the Matanuska Experiment Farm have been reporting daily temperature, precipitation, snowfall, snow depth, and evaporation data to the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Anchorage since July 1, 1917. The longevity of continuous records collected at this station has provided an incredibly valuable dataset for climate scientists, researchers, and the agricultural community.

The National Weather Service’s Cooperative Observer Program has provided scientists and researchers with vital observational data for more than a century. Today, over 10,000 volunteer observers participate in the nationwide program to provide daily weather observations on temperature, precipitation, snowfall and other hydrological and meteorological data such as evaporation and soil temperature. The U.S. Congress recognized the value of the COOP program and its observers by authorizing improvements to the program through the National Integrated Drought Information System Reauthorization Act of 2018 (Public Law 115-423).

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