Kim Fundingsland/MDN Stu Merry, Garrison, checks on a temperature sensor located in his backyard. Merry is a cooperative weather observer for the National Weather Service.

GARRISON – Stu Merry is the latest person to carry the water, literally, for the state’s longest running cooperative weather observation station.

How long is long? National Weather Service records reveal that the current Garrison reporting site had its beginnings in 1875, presumably with the help of the Army Signal Corps from Fort Stevenson.

Fort Stevenson was a military post located approximately nine miles southwest of this community. The post was located along the Missouri River in an area that is now underneath the water of Lake Sakakawea. Fort Stevenson was built in 1867 and formally abandoned in 1883.

While early records are sketchy, the NWS does have written weather reports dating back to 1895 from Coal Harbor, another location that was inundated by the filling of Lake Sakakawea behind Garrison Dam. George L. Robinson filed reports for the NWS from that location for 41 years. His final day of service to the NWS was Aug. 1, 1936.

Coal Harbor, as it is spelled in early records, is Coleharbor on today’s maps. Today’s Coleharbor is located about 11 miles southeast of Garrison. Coal Harbor was originally located on the Missouri River to the southwest of the present town. The spelling of Coleharbor was changed to honor W. A. Cole, an official with the Soo Line Railroad.

The site of early day Garrison was located several miles farther south than the current town and, like Fort Stevenson and Cole Harbor, lies underneath Lake Sakakawea. The NWS in Bismarck has a neatly written record dated July 5, 1895, that contains the daily high and low temperatures, sky conditions and precipitation totals for the previous month at Coal Harbor. It is signed by Robinson.

Today Stu Merry carries on the tradition of volunteer weather reporting done by Robinson and others who followed in his footsteps.

“I didn’t realize it was that long,” said Merry. “What I find unique about this is that there have been only six, not many. That’s crazy!”

Merry’s daily weather reporting routine is much different from what those early day observers experienced. Technology has come a long way. Nevertheless, like those before him, Merry makes weather observations part of his daily routine.

“It’s very simple. I get up in the morning and, if we didn’t get any moisture, it’s easy. I don’t have to worry about that,” said Merry.

Temperatures, daily highs and lows, are recorded on a device with a digital readout inside Merry’s home. The information comes from a temperature sensor the NWS installed in the backyard of his Garrison home. If Merry is away from home for a period of time the high and low temperatures are stored and can easily be retrieved for record keeping.

Precipitation is another matter. An official NWS rain gauge is used to measure precipitation. Rainfall is easy to measure. Merry simply inserts an NWS measuring stick into the rain gauge and gets an accurate measurement of rainfall. Merry calls measuring rain a “piece of cake.”

“It’s snowfall that gets tricky,” added Merry. “Hopefully snow falls straight down. That’s great. Then you just measure off a board or a flat surface, with a measuring stick, and that gives you your snowfall. Blowing snow is different.”

Wind blown snow requires more than one measurement. Snowfall totals in windy or blizzard-like conditions are usually comprised of an average of the depth of snow from three or four locations. To determine the amount of precipitation Merry takes a sample into his home and lets it melt. Then, he says, he can get an accurate measurement of the amount of precipitation that fell in the form of snow. He is always interested in the results.

“I’ve always enjoyed weather. Everybody talks about it,” said Merry.

Merry published weekly weather reports while working at the McLean County Independent newspaper in Garrison. He’s retired from that job now but recalls his weekly visits with those that preceded him as Garrison’s cooperative weather observer.

“It was Herb and Sharon Schwartz,” said Merry. “We go to the same church so knew each other. She asked if I’d like to do the weather since it has to go to the newspaper anyway. I said sure, why not?”

That was in 2010. The NWS arrived at Merry’s home shortly thereafter. Within about an hour they had installed the necessary equipment to assist Merry in his weather reporting. Now he is part of recorded history.

­­”It kind of makes you feel you are in the game,” remarked Merry. “It’s enjoyable and stuff people always talk about, no matter where you are – coffee shop, church, post office or business.”

Each year the NWS recognizes their cooperative weather observers, some of whom have been doing so for many years. Merry calls them “dedicated people who love what they do.”

The NWS has automated weather stations at several locations in the state, but still rely on cooperative observers to fill in the gaps in weather coverage. The more weather data the NWS receives, the better.

“The NWS is always looking for more observers,” said Merry. “It gives them a boots on the ground perspective. You can have all the automated service that you want but there’s still the eyes and the ears of people like me and others.”

An example cited by Merry is that “one guy will get dumped on by rain and the next guy will get hardly anything.”

Merry is not sure how long he will continue to be a NWS cooperative weather observer but he has already added his name to an impressive list of dedicated volunteers dating back to before North Dakota became a state in 1889.

(Prairie Profile is a weekly feature profiling interesting people in our region. We welcome suggestions from our readers. Call Editor Mike Sasser at 857-1959 or Regional Editor Eloise Ogden at 857-1944. Either can be reached at 1-800-735-3229. You also can send email suggestions to msasser@minotdailynews.com.)