Huntsville resident Wayne Wickerham, center, standing next to his wife, June, holds the rain gauge at his property Tuesday during an award presentation for his nearly 60 years of service to the National Weather Service as a cooperative weather observer. Also pictured, from the left, are Mr. and Mrs. Wickerham’s grandson Matt Hurley, and National Weather Service officials James Gibson, Ashley Novak and Brandon Peloquin. (EXAMINER PHOTO | Mandy Loehr)
About six decades ago, a young Huntsville area farmer’s name was offered to the National Weather Service in 1964 as a promising candidate to serve as a cooperative weather observer, as a previous longtime weather observer had just passed away and a replacement was needed for the local area.
The recommendation that was spurred during a conversation at the local post office developed into a most dedicated representative for this daily role.
Tuesday, May 21, the former young farmer Wayne Wickerham was honored by the National Weather Service for his nearly 60 years of service in the cooperative weather observer position. He officially retired from the role in December 2023 on his 89th birthday.
“The postmaster asked who might be interested in this position of a weather spotter, and the town constable, John Monteith, said I know just the person, and that was me,” Mr. Wickerham said during a presentation of the award by National Weather Service representatives at his 9249 State Route 117, Huntsville, residence, where he has lived for most of his life.
Fittingly, the ceremony was set up near his 8-inch rain gauge, which has been at the property ever since Wickerham began serving in this volunteer position.
“I’ve been collecting the weather reports every day ever since I was about 30 years old, including high and low temperatures, precipitation and measuring any snowfall. I used to make calls daily with the weather information, but more recently, I log into an online platform with the National Weather Service to record all of my observations from my home.
“It really is an honor, and I have really enjoyed it all of these years, even on those cold winter mornings.”
Making sure he got up on those bitterly cold days is Mr. Wickerham’s wife of 72 years, June, a retired Indian Lake Schools first-grade teacher, who served the district for 32 years and then came back to substitute teach for 14 years.
The couple celebrated their “18th wedding anniversary” Feb. 29, since their wedding day took place on Leap Day, they noted. Their daughter Cindy Brown and grandson Matt Hurley also joined in for the ceremony Tuesday.
National Weather Service employees from the Wilmington Forecast Office who presented a plaque to Mr. Wickerham and offered their congratulations and thanks were Meteorologist Ashley Novak, Warning Coordinator Meteorologist Brandon Peloquin and Observing Program Leader James Gibson. Helen Norris, Logan County Emergency Management Agency director, also attended to express her gratitude for Mr. Wickerham’s long-term commitment.
“Thank you for your lifetime of service,” Ms. Novak said in presentation “The data that our cooperative weather spotters submit to us does not just stay in the office; it’s very valuable and is used for a wide range of services in tracking national data and compiling historical data as well.
“This is a testament to all of your hard work.”
The 60-year cooperative weather observer award is highly unusual and a great honor, as the three National Weather Service representatives said they could name only one or two other individuals from Ohio and Indiana who had ever achieved five or six decades of service.
Mr. Wickerham said if only he had been able to predict the future, he might have held on to the cooperative weather spotter position for just a few more months, with the EF3 tornado hit the Indian Lake area not far from his home on March 14.
“Now we experienced some of the worst weather we’ve ever had and I’m officially retired,” he said.
“We were very fortunate at our farm, as we just had hail on our windows, but not a scratch on us. We consider ourselves very lucky.”
The blizzard of 1978 will go down in Mr. Wickerham’s personal history books as his favorite time recording the weather conditions.
“It was something else trying to measure a 7-foot snow drift,” he said with a chuckle. “Those were some of the most exciting observances I ever made.”