March 21, 2025
Gov. Henry McMaster has proclaimed March 23-29, 2025, as South Carolina Citizen Weather Observer Week, thanks to the efforts of the State Climatology Office, within the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.
This week celebrates and recognizes South Carolina’s National Weather Service Cooperative Weather Observers (COOP), SKYWARN Spotters, and Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) volunteers.
Across the Palmetto State, citizens participating in these programs volunteer their time to help track daily weather conditions and relay critical information during extreme events, such as hurricanes, droughts, floods, and severe and winter weather, to state and federal agencies.
“The success of these programs within our state lies in the willingness of South Carolinians to volunteer without compensation for their work,” said Assistant State Climatologist Melissa Griffin, the state coordinator for the CoCoRaHS program.
The National Weather Service Cooperative Observer Program (COOP) serves as the nation’s weather and climate monitoring network, comprising volunteer citizens and institutions that regularly observe and report weather information.
In addition to the COOP program, over 400 citizen-science weather observers provide supplemental information on precipitation across the state as part of the CoCoRaHS. Each COOP and CoCoRaHS observer must operate their station with accuracy, promptness, legibility, cooperation, consistency, and care of equipment, without any compensation for their work.
The climatological database generated through the efforts of volunteer observers, such as those participating in the COOP and CoCoRaHS programs, stands as the cornerstone of our nation’s weather history. Thanks to their dedication, we have continually monitored the trends and variability of our state’s climate since record-keeping began in the mid-to-late 1800s.
“It is rare to find someone, or a family, willing to volunteer their time for decades or even a century,” Griffin said.
There are also citizens of South Carolina who obtain critical weather information through the NWS SKYWARN® program. These volunteers help keep their local communities safe by providing reports of severe weather to the NWS. This service enables NWS to issue more timely and accurate warnings for tornadoes, severe thunderstorms, and flash floods.
The South Carolina State Climatology Office is pleased to recognize those who have volunteered to provide these services and efforts that benefit the state and the nation and is delighted to announce this official proclamation.
Citizen Weather Observer Week coincides with two other weather-related activities scheduled during March: the annual CoCoRaHS March Recruitment campaign, which starts March 1, and South Carolina Severe Weather Awareness and Flood Safety Week (March 2 – 8, 2025), sponsored by the S.C. Emergency Management Division, National Weather Service and the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.
South Carolina Department of Natural Resources; 260 D Epting Ln, West Columbia, SC 29172
