Cooperative Observer Program

The National Weather Service office in Lincoln operates a network of over 60 cooperative weather observers. These observers, most of whom volunteer their services, take daily observations of temperature, precipitation, or river levels. These observations are used by the local NWS forecasters, River Forecast Centers near Minneapolis and Wilmington OH, and the media. They are also archived at the National Centers for Environmental Information in Asheville, North Carolina, and are important in studying the long-term climate of the area.

Lincoln NWS personnel assist with various functions of the program:

Overseeing data collection, quality control, and dissemination of observational data from the office.
Use of the data for hydrological purposes, contacting external agencies such as the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) as necessary.
Maintenance of equipment and associated metadata.

Cooperative Observer Program Topics:
COOP Home, Latest Observations, Observation Techniques,
Equipment, National COOP Page