Local business documents weather for 75 years

(ABC 6 News) – Monday evening, one business in Osage was recognized for supplying weather data for three-quarters of a century.

Imagine getting up at 7 a.m. to check measurements for temperature and rainfall or snowfall. Now imagine doing that for 75 years in a row.

That is exactly what the employees at Osage Municipal Utilities did from August 1, 1946, until May 31, 2022.

Osage Municipal Utilities received an award in honor of their consistency and dedication from the National Weather Service at the Osage city council meeting Monday evening.

No one from Osage Municipal Utilities was able to accept the award due to prior commitments, so Mayor Steve Cooper accepted the award on their behalf.

“Well I was totally surprised and kind of blown away. Two of them show up with an award and a letter of appreciation,” said Cooper.

They are part of what is called the Cooperative Observer program. The program was started in 1890 after an act was passed in Congress. The program is full of over 11,000 volunteers nationwide that provide temperature, rainfall, and snowfall data to the National Weather Service, with one of them being Osage Municipal Utilities until just over 6 months ago.

These co-op observers, all of which are volunteers, provide weather data to the national weather service and are deemed official weather stations as long as they meet guidelines set by the national weather service.

“It shows how important these local weather stations are. I’m glad Osage was a recipient of this; I’m glad Osage has done this for 75 years,” Cooper said.

The city of Osage is still part of the co-op observer program, as the new weather station is located on the west side of town at the wastewater treatment plant.