Cooperative Weather Observer Awards
Paul Burman
Receives
40 Years Length of Service Award
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| Pictured
(left to right): Greg Harmon (Meteorologist-In-Charge, Sioux Falls) Paul Burman (Cooperative Observer, Wakefield) Dave Theophilus (Meteorologist-In-Charge, Omaha) |
On August 23, 2001, Meteorologists-In Charge (MIC) Greg Harmon from Sioux Falls, and Dave Theophilus from Omaha met in Wakefield, Nebraska. Together, they awarded Paul Burman a 40 Year Length of Service Award for his service to the National Weather Service as a cooperative observer for Wakefield.
Ask Paul Burman about his 40 years as a cooperative weather observer and he will give you the number 14,867. As Mr. Burman has it figured, that's the number of daily temperatures and precipitation observations he has recorded up to August 23, 2001. Paul Burman actually began observing for the U.S. Weather Bureau November 9, 1960.
Other interesting facts Mr. Burman, age 84, was able to give to Harmon and Theophilus concerning his 40 years of service:
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Over 2100 weekly trips were made to the Wakefield Republican Newspaper to give the weekly weather data. That's about 2100 miles traveled.
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Over 5000 daily telephone calls of daily weather data given to the Sioux City television media in the past 16 years.
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His coldest reading at Wakefield during his 40 years of service was -34 ° F on both February 28, 1962 and January 19, 1970. In fact, the cold 1970 temperature was relayed to NBC of New York who reported Wakefield as the coldest spot in the nation on the "Today" program.
