The job is part of the Cooperative Observer Program, a network of more than 8,700 volunteers who collect weather data from farms, cities and National Parks. The program dates to 1890. Its original mission was tracking changes in climate patterns for nearby residents by providing 24-hour, real-time data.
Volunteers record temperatures and precipitation totals and send them electronically to the National Weather Service. Some observers go further and report evaporation and soil temperatures from their own property. No instruments? The agency will either provide them or point you in the right direction.
For folks in Tahoka and Brownfield, this is a chance to feed your own patch of ground into the Weather Service's data. Anyone interested can email sr-lub.webmaster@noaa.gov, and the Weather Service has a webpage with more on the program.
A weather habit that started in 1890 now has openings in just two West Texas towns.