Toni Hopper
DUNCAN — Bitterly cold wind Monday made the trudge up the hill less than enjoyable for Glen Harris as he headed to do a monthly check of the automatic ran gauge using technology that has been around for decades.
His trek to the National Weather Service outdoor site included the howling and barking of dogs nearby. It’s something Harris is accustomed to and laughs how the dogs would soon settle down, until he made the journey off the hill which would get them stirred up again.
The precipitation tank is near the apron of Duncan Municipal Airport, by the Stephens County Humane Society, and while weather tools have advanced greatly over the last 10 years, the manner in which rain is gauged remains the same. It runs on a timer and records hourly precipitation and is extremely accurate and works on a weight principle. A ticker tape is notched with holes as the rain falls into the tank. Some of those gauges have been doing the job since 1961.
Harris, of Comanche, has been changing the tape on the machine since December 1994 and was honored for 15 years of volunteer service to the National Weather Service. He even has a title — National Weather Service Cooperative Observer.
“I was working with animal control (for City of Duncan),” he said. A NWS employee had stopped in at the city pound and asked Harris and two others if they would be interested in changing out the tape. Harris is the only one left from that group of three that changes the Duncan tape.
“It’s something to do for the community,” he said. He’s one of 10,000 volunteers throughout the country who helps with the gathering of precipitation.
“He’s been very reliable and very conscientious,” said Daryl Williams, with NWS out of Norman. Williams said the technology may be old, but it doesn’t freeze. During the ice storm, the digital models did and getting readings were a problem.
“This thing is all about time,” Williams said. While daily rainfall is recorded at The Banner, the rain gauge tracks hourly figures. Williams said that those records fill in the gaps, especially when thunderstorms or heavy rainfall occurs.
Once Harris changes the tapes, he mails the records to the climate center in North Carolina. He said doing the task has gotten him more interested in weather and involved in the community. As a certified weather observer, he attends the annual Duncan Noon Lions Club Rodeo, because if there is a storm and the rodeo is cancelled, his presence benefits it for the rain insurance. For his efforts, Williams presented Harris with a plaque, a new NWS ballcap, a pin and a letter from Mike Foster, meteorologist in charge at the NWS in N orman.
— Toni Hopper is a reporter for The Duncan Banner. She can be reached at 580-255-5354, Ext. 132 or by e-mail at: toni.hopper@duncanbanner.com.
