Hansens awarded for for weather observations

Press release

Richard and Todd Hansen were presented with a 50-year Family Heritage Award and a 10-year Length of Service Award in Great Falls from the National Weather Service Cooperative Observer Program.

Richard took daily weather observations for 44 years until officially turning over the responsibility to Todd Hansen who has been taking the daily observations for 10 years.

The Hansen family began taking daily weather observations for the NWS when Richard Hansen took over the weather station in June of 1972. The station began in August of 1958 in Gildford, where it remains today. The Hansen's have been recording daily maximum and minimum temperatures, precipitation, snowfall and snow depth continuing records for this location that span a total of 65 plus years.

The awards were presented by Matt Moorman, observation program leader at NWS Great Falls.

The National Weather Service Cooperative Observer Program is the Nation's weather and climate observing network of, by and for the people. About 8,500 volunteers take observations on farms, in urban and suburban areas, National Parks, seashores, and mountaintops. The data are representative of where people live, work and play.

Observers generally record temperature and precipitation daily and electronically send those reports daily to the NWS and the National Centers for Environmental Information.