Lewis County Herald - Serving Hohenwald, Lewis County Tennessee Since 1898

Joe Smith has been recognized by the National Weather Service (NWS) and Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) for surpassing 4,000 daily precipitation reports. He was honored with a Volunteer Appreciation Award given by Nolan Doesken, National Director of CoCoRaHS, and a Certificate of Recognition from Krissy Hurley and Alyssa Clements of the National Weather Service, Nashville, Tennessee Weather Forecast Office.

Smith operates Weather Station TN-LS-5 in his backyard in Hohenwald and has been submitting reports since January 2013. Rain, hail, and snow data collected by Smith and other CoCoRaHS volunteers helps weather forecasters with weather prediction and verification. In particular, precipitation data allows forecasters to see with great detail where it rained or snow, where it didn't, and how much. When you see forecasts of river stages and flood levels on the Tennessee, the Buffalo, the Duck, or the Cumberland River, or most anywhere in the country, CoCoRaHS data is being used. Reports of hail or heavy rain may trigger NWS to issue severe thunderstorm or flash flood warnings, and in some cases a local report can help save lives. In addition, daily precipitation reports are used routinely to adjust radar precipitation estimates by research scientists, NWS forecasters, and private meteorological businesses.

Nolan Doesken, CoCoRaHS National Director, commended Smith, stating "We have a remarkable community of rain gauge volunteers tracking weather data from the mountains to the coasts and from the farms to the cities. Citizen scientists like Joe Smith help keep this amazing team effort going and growing with their commitment to careful and high-quality observations."

Smith, who is a member of the American Meteorological Society, has spent 10.95 years of his life to accrue 4,000 reports. In order to accomplish this milestone, he had to train his family to assist with the accurate recording of weather data to ensure that consecutive observations would not be missed during illness. "I am grateful to my late wife Patricia who correctly collected measurements to ensure a report deadline would not be missed during my past hospitalizations," stated Smith.

In accepting the awards, Smith said, "I am very proud to be recognized for my service and love of science and weather. In addition to the data I have collected and reported daily, I have posted thousands of "Joe's Fresh Brewed" weather forecasts on Facebook and have sent specialized forecasts to many people and locations in America and overseas."