7-10-13 —   For many years, J.D. Rogers has contributed weekly weather reports and monthly summaries to local media as part of his role as local observer for the National Weather Service.

    Last week, Rogers announced his retirement as official weather observer, citing health issues.

    Rogers has been an important part of the weather reporting team for the National Weather Service since 1985. He has kept precipitation and temperature readings for the local community for the past 28 years and was in daily contact with the National Weather Service to provide them with those numbers.

    And if there was a special weather event, like a strong storm, Rogers also made note of that during his daily call to the weather service.

    Last week, Rogers said he made the call to the weather service notifying them that he would be unable to continue as the local observer. He said they had not notified him yet about a replacement.



    The 78-year-old has dedicated much of his life to the weather. He is a retired Air Force weather forecaster and also worked with NOAA in the space weather program.

    So, it was natural that he became a local observer for Monticello after his retirement from the Air Force. That meant Rogers had to record precipitation totals outside his home twice each day. He also kept records regarding the high and low temperature each day.

    His dedication did not go unnoticed. In 2005, Rogers was the recipient of the John Campanius Holm Award. The Holm Award is NOAA's second most prestigious award with only 25 presented each year around the country.

    The award was created to honor cooperative observers for outstanding accomplishments in the field of meteorological observations. It is named for a Lutheran minister who was the first person known to have taken systematic weather observations in the American Colonies.