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Mount Ayr Record-News
Mount Ayr, Ringgold County, Iowa
Thursday, October 30, 2014, Pages 1 & 2
McAlexander honored for 25 years of weather watching
Eugene McAlexander of Beaconsfield recently completed 25 years of service as a National Weather Service
Cooperative Weather Observer. McAlexander began his 25-year tenure as an official weather observer in May, 1989. He
provides the National Weather Service with temperature, rainfall and snowfall information on a daily and monthly basis for
the city of Beaconsfield. The weather information McAlexander provides the National Weather Service becomes a permanent
part of the climatic record for the local area and nation. This data is used extensively by many sectors including
the National Weather Service, state climatologists
[Page 2] and numerous others in the public and private sectors. These records continue to acquire greater value
with the passage of time. As concern increases about the effect of human activities on global climate, these unique
and irreplaceable observations will be vital for the detection and description of any changes in climate. There are
over 300 volunteer cooperative weather observers in Iowa and nearly 12,000 nationwide. Observers are located at homes,
farms, municipal facilities, utilities, dams, parks, radio and television stations and many other locations.
Individual observers have taken daily measurements for decades with successive family generations providing records
of over 100 years. The family in Iowa with the longest records was the Stern family of Logan
from January 1860 to November 1960. The observer with the longest record in Iowa was Earl V. Slife of Hawarden. He
began observing August 10, 1926 and retired July 3, 1993 (66 years, 10 months, 23 days). The Beaconsfield weather station
has reported weather information to the National Weather Service since May, 1951. The nation owes a sincere debt of
gratitude to the cooperative weather observers who have quietly and steadily built up what amounts to a priceless
national treasure in the finest tradition of volunteer service in their country.
The United States Government, the National Weather Service, the state climatologist, community and others greatly appreciate
this service and thank McAlexander for 25 years of a "job well done."
Photograph courtesy of Mount Ayr Record-News
Transcription by Sharon R. Becker, January of 2015
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