Forecasting office presents IU with award

The National Weather Forecast Office in central Indiana awarded the IU Physical Plant the 50-year Institutional Award in honor of the plant's half a century of collecting metereological data.\nJohn Ogren, a meteorologist from the forecast office, presented the award to Mark Menefee, assistant director of the physical plant, and the plant's employees.\nEvery morning, the Physical Plant records the day's high and low temperatures, the amount of precipitation and depth of the snowfall for the forecast office, which covers the central part of Indiana, said Ed Terrell, a hydrometerological technician for the forecast office.\n"We use this data every day," Ogren said. "It helps people every day."\nThe data is used for forecasting, publication and research, according to a National Weather Service news release. \nAbout 250 sites in Indiana are run by institutions like IU or private individuals, which keep the forecast office in Indianapolis aware of daily weather conditions, Terrell said. Only about 20 to 30 of these awards have been given out to institutions and individuals in central Indiana.\n"Even though it's been a different group of people over those 50 years, it's still a great event," Terrell said.\nThe stations are part of 11,000 networks across the country, Terrell said. \nBecause of the plant's performance, IU is part of the U.S. \nHistorical Climatological Network, "an elite network of stations," \naccording to the news release.\n"We're fortunate in this country to have one of the best climatological networks in the world," he said. "It's that type of spirit and dedication this program was built on."\nThe program, which dates back to the late 1800s, provides data that Terrell said is "the backbone of the climate (data collection) of the United States."\nMenefee said the physical plant is proud of its consistency and plans to continue collecting meterological data for another 50 years.\n"We didn't know the whole story of the program," he said. "It's great to be a part of that"