The
official station name is Norfolk 2 SW. It is a National Weather Service (NWS)
Cooperative Weather Observer Station, one of 165 in Connecticut. There are
currently about 11,700 cooperative stations in the United States. The station
is currently located at the Childs family's Coolwater estate on Windrow Road,
and thus is often referred to as the Coolwater weather station. The station's
elevation is approximately 1,340 feet. The Great Mountain Forest Corporation
(GMFC) currently maintains the station.
The
station is technically classified by the NWS as being a Hydrological-type of
station, one of only a few in the state. This means that in addition to
temperature and precipitation, readings are also taken related to evaporation,
such as wind movement, water temperature, wet bulb temperature and dry bulb
temperature. These are factors used to determine evaporation rates, which are
important in agriculture and forestry. When there is snow on the ground,
measurements are routinely taken to determine the water content (water
equivalent) of the snow. This information helps the NWS forecast the amount of
runoff and potential flooding from snow melt during warm spells or the spring
thaw. Every day of the year readings are taken at the station and submitted
manually to the NWS. In addition to the daily submissions, handwritten monthly
summary sheets and weather recording equipment charts are mailed to the NWS at
the end of each month.
Edward
"Ted" Childs as a child discovered that he had an interest in the
weather. It was an interest he received from his grandfather. In 1932 Ted
began recording weather data in Norfolk as part of his Master's thesis for the
Yale University School of Forestry. A number of stations were set up
throughout the family owned forest to study the microclimatic influence of
hemlock trees. When the study was completed, Ted decided to keep-up the one
station located at Coolwater. It is still
there and operating to this day. More . . .
Weather statistics have been collected at Great Mountain Forest since 1932. They are currently compiled by Russell M. Russ. Here are some that might interest you . . .
