18-114 Mill Creek Project earns National Weather Service Honored Institution Award

Published Sept. 27, 2018
The Walla Walla District’s Mill Creek Dam and Bennington Lake project was recognized with an “Honored Institution Award” on Wednesday, Sept. 26, for 75 years of service in the National Weather Service’s Cooperative Observer program. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo.

The Walla Walla District’s Mill Creek Dam and Bennington Lake project was recognized with an “Honored Institution Award” on Wednesday, Sept. 26, for 75 years of service in the National Weather Service’s Cooperative Observer program. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo.

National Weather Service (NWS) officials present U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) staff at the Mill Creek Dam and Bennington Lake project with an “Honored Institution Award” on Wednesday, Sept. 26, for 75 years of service in the National Weather Service’s Cooperative Observer program. From left, Mike Vescio, NWS Pendleton Field Office meteorologist in charge; Dr. Grant Cooper, Western Region NWS Director; Jeremy Nguyen, USACE park ranger; Dave Parker, retired lead maintenance worker; Lonnie Croft, lead maintenance worker; Justin Stegall, USACE operations project manager; and Cady Tyron, USACE park ranger. Not pictured: Troy Hein, USACE maintenance worker. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo.

National Weather Service (NWS) officials present U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) staff at the Mill Creek Dam and Bennington Lake project with an “Honored Institution Award” on Wednesday, Sept. 26, for 75 years of service in the National Weather Service’s Cooperative Observer program. From left, Mike Vescio, NWS Pendleton Field Office meteorologist in charge; Dr. Grant Cooper, Western Region NWS Director; Jeremy Nguyen, USACE park ranger; Dave Parker, retired lead maintenance worker; Lonnie Croft, lead maintenance worker; Justin Stegall, USACE operations project manager; and Cady Tyron, USACE park ranger. Not pictured: Troy Hein, USACE maintenance worker. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers photo.

WALLA WALLA, Wash. – The Walla Walla District’s Mill Creek Dam and Bennington Lake project was recognized with an “Honored Institution Award” on Wednesday, Sept. 26, for 75 years of service in the National Weather Service’s Cooperative Observer program.

Dr. Grant Cooper, Western Region, National Weather Service (NWS) director, from Salt Lake City, Utah, with other NWS staff from the Pendleton Field Office, presented the award to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) employees at the project office, located next to Mill Creek, about a mile east of Walla Walla city limits, across from the Walla Walla Community College campus.

The NWS Cooperative Observer Program (Coop) is the nation's weather and climate observing network of, by and for the people. According to the NWS website, more than 8,700 volunteers take observations on farms, in urban and suburban areas, national parks, seashores and mountaintops.

The Coop was formally created in 1890 under the Organic Act. Its mission is two-fold:

+ to provide observational meteorological data, usually consisting of daily maximum and minimum temperatures, snowfall, and 24-hour precipitation totals, required to define the climate of the United States and to help measure long-term climate changes, and

+ to provide observational meteorological data in near real-time to support forecast, warning and other public service programs of the NWS.

According to NWS records, in August 1943, Mill Creek project USACE staff asked the NWS for a rain gauge to locate at their “new” project, said Jim Smith, NWS meteorologist at the Pendleton Field Office.

Since then, Mill Creek staff work together to provide daily Coop data to the NWS about precipitation, as well as seasonal snow depth and accumulation. Coop observational data supports the NWS climate program and field operations.

Follow Mill Creek Dam and Bennington Lake on Facebook for breaking-news and recreation announcements at https://www.facebook.com/millcreekdam.

For more information about the National Weather Service’s Cooperative Observer Program, visit their webpage https://www.weather.gov/coop.
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Contact
Public Affairs Office
509-527-7020
cenww-pa@usace.army.mil

Release no. 18-114