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Contact: Gary Wicklund or Vernon Preston **FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**

208-232-9306 September 3, 2008

**NOAA'S NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TO HONOR**

**WES TINGEY FOR 100 YEARS OF SUPPORT**

Recognizing 102 years of dedication, NOAA's National Weather Service has
named Wes Tingey resident of Woodruff, Utah, as a 2008 recipient of the
agency's Family Heritage Award for outstanding service in the
Cooperative Weather Observer program.

Officials from NOAA's National Weather Service in Pocatello, Idaho,
honored Mr. Tingey during a ceremony on Friday August 29th at the Tingey
home in Woodruff. This award is one of only a very small number of
Family Heritage honors granted nationwide by NOAA's National Weather
Service. 

"Volunteers like Wes Tingey and his family are crucial to National
Weather Service operations," said Rick Dittmann meteorologist-in-charge
of the weather forecast office in Pocatello. "Of more than 10,000
volunteer observers around the country contributing to the daily
collection of weather data needed to maintain forecasting parameters and
climatological records, only a select few have been in operation for 100
years or more."

Beginning in the late 19^th^ century, the Tingey family has provided the
nation's weather forecasters with precipitation and temperature data
from the Woodruff observing station. In January 1898, F.J. Tingey was
appointed as an official Weather Bureau Observer and was furnished
standard Weather Bureau equipment.  Over the years weather observing
duties has passed down through the Tingey Family. The Tingey Family has
taken more than 35,000 observations and have been instrumental in
providing dependable, accurate and timely weather observations that have
defined the climate for Woodruff, Utah.

Cooperative weather observers provide a valuable service to the National
Weather Service, our nation and the people who rely on their
observations.  The family's unselfish and unrelenting service in weather
observing and record keeping for the community of Woodruff and the
National Weather Service provide valuable climatic information. They are
part of a network of over 12,000 volunteers nationwide and 70 volunteers
in Eastern Idaho and Northern Utah. Their reports help the National
Weather Service more accurately predict the climate of the region. Mr.
Tingey and his family are among an elite group of people contributing
their time to accurately collect weather information through the
Cooperative Observer Program.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, an agency of the
U.S. Commerce Department, is dedicated to enhancing economic security
and national safety through the prediction and research of weather and
climate-related events and information service delivery for
transportation, and by providing environmental stewardship of our
nation\'s coastal and marine resources. Through the emerging Global
Earth Observation System of Systems (GEOSS), NOAA is working with its
federal partners, more than 70 countries and the European Commission to
develop a global monitoring network that is as integrated as the planet
it observes, predicts and protects.

-more-

![](media/image2.jpeg){width="6.541666666666667in"
height="3.4375in"}From left to right: Dr. Robert Gilles, Utah State
Climatologist; Steve Summy, Observation Program Lead (OPL) at Weather
Forecast Office (WFO), Salt Lake City (SLC), UT; Rick Dittmann,
Meteorologist-In-Charge (MIC), of WFO Pocatello (PIH), ID; Mr. Wes
Tingey; Dr. Larry Dunn, MIC of WFO SLC; Gary Wicklund, OPL at PIH; and
Susan Nelson, Observations Program Manager, NWS Western Region
Headquarters. Photo by Vernon Preston 08/08

![](media/image3.jpeg){width="5.979166666666667in" height="3.5in"}

> From left to right: Steve Summy, OPL at WFO SLC; Rick Dittmann, MIC at
> WFO PIH; Mr. Wes Tingey; Dr. Larry Dunn, MIC at WFO SLC; and Gary
> Wicklund, OPL at WFO PIH. Photo by Dr. Robert Gilles 08/08

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On the Web:

NOAA: [http://www.noaa.gov](http://www.noaa.gov/)

NOAA's National Weather Service:
[http://www.nws.noaa.gov](http://www.nws.noaa.gov/)

Cooperative Observer Program:
<http://www.weather.gov/om/coop/wfo-rfcmap.htm>