Staff Writer
National Weather Service officials at the Caribou office agreed; the open house on Aug. 29 was a success.
Over 400 people had signed up for tours during the events, and NWS employees estimated that not everyone who attended the open house took a tour of the facilities.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
The festivities, held in conjunction with Caribou’s 150th birthday celebration, drew individuals from all over Maine and beyond to the area.
Attending the event with Laura and R.J. Doucette, Karla Cyr of Caribou found the open house to be interesting, informative, and fun.
“I wish they could do it more often than every 150 years,” Cyr joked, stating that the open house was very well prepared. R.J said that his favorite part of the open house was the slide show, the weather balloon launch, and the Civil Air Patrol airplane. Laura agreed with R.J. that the airplane was one of the best parts.
Pete Rahe, observing program leader at the National Weather Service Office in Caribou, found the event to be a helpful venue to spread the word about three weather observing programs — the spotter program, the cooperative observer program, and the new program in Maine called CoCoRaHS.
According to Rahe, the Spotter program is event based, meaning that participants only report their finding back to the National Weather Service when something significant happens. Weather events that spotters would respond to include heavy rain, strong winds, hail, a tornado, etc.
The data obtained through the cooperative observer program, and this is mostly intended for climatological and hydrological use. Participants in this program agree to let the National Weather Service install equipment at the volunteers house so that the observer can report collected data to the National Weather Service once a day.
Data obtained through the cooperative observer program include max/min temperature, current temperature, the amount of precipitation, etc.
CoCoRaHS, the third program, asks participants to report on nothing but precipitation once a day.
“If you have time, if you have an interest, I think any of these programs are great to participate in, “Rahe said.
Individuals interested in participating with any of the three programs should contact Rahe at 492-0180 x225 or at peter.rahe@noaa.gov.
Aroostook Republican photo/Natalie Bazinet
Six-year old Customs and Border Protection dog Mike is rewarded for his finding with a bit of play,
administered watchfully by CBP Officer Kovach. Kovach showed a crowd of over 100 people how Mike has learned to follow his nose and alert the officer when things are amiss.
