Fruit Business is highly governed by the Weather -- Thomas Jefferson Award Winner (Tree-Mendus Fruit Farm owner)

Recognizing 43 years of service to America, NOAA’s National Weather Service has named Eau Claire resident Herbert Teichman as a 2011 recipient of the agency’s Thomas Jefferson Award for outstanding service in the Cooperative Weather Observer Program. The award is the agency’s most prestigious and only five are presented this year to cooperative weather observers from around the country.
“Cooperative observers are the bedrock of weather data collection and analysis,” said Dr. Jack Hayes, director of NOAA’s National Weather Service.  “Satellites, high-speed computers, mathematical models and other technological breakthroughs have brought great benefits to the Nation in terms of better forecasts and warnings. But without the century-long accumulation of accurate weather observations taken by volunteer observers, scientists could not begin to adequately describe the climate of the United States. We cannot thank Mr. Teichman enough for his years of service to America.”
Michael A. Sabones, meteorologist-in-charge of the Northern Indiana National Weather Service forecast office near Syracuse, along with Brentley Lothamer, Observation Program leader of the Northern Indiana National Weather Service forecast office, will present the award to Teichman during a ceremony at Tree-Mendus Fruit Company near Eau Claire on Wednesday at 2 p.m. Program manager Brentley Lothamer of the Northern Indiana office nominated Teichman for the award.
The National Weather Service’s Cooperative Weather Observer Program has given scientists and researchers continuous observational data since the program’s inception more than a century ago. Today, some 11,000 volunteer observers participate in the nationwide program to provide daily reports on temperature, precipitation and other weather factors such as snow depth, river levels and soil temperature.
Teichman has a passion for the weather and is very active in the community. He owns and operates the Tree-Mendus Fruit farm and hosts many neighborhood activities at the farm. These activities include the International Cherry Pit Spit contest.
Teichman also provides his data to numerous sources including the media and local government. He always expresses his concern about making sure his weather observations are correct and that they get to the National Weather Service on time.
“The fruit business is highly governed by the weather,” Teichman said. “Rainfall, drought, heat and frost are just some of the factors that affect our many fruit trees.” His fruit tree business includes apples, apricots, cherries, nectarines, peaches, pears and plums.
Teichman is very diligent in his weather observations taking neat, legible and accurate observations and even has all of his weather records back to the beginning.
Teichman became an official observer at the Eau Claire site on Aug. 1, 1968, taking over from his father, William.
William Teichman founded the site in 1923, recording daily temperature, precipitation, snowfall, snow depth and snowfall water equivalent for the National Weather Service.
Herbert Teichman has found memories as a child helping his father take the weather observations and discussing the observations and the weather over supper. Adhering to his volunteer duties through such weather extremes as 30-inch snow days, temperatures well below zero and sweltering drought conditions, Teichman is the latest volunteer in the family whose efforts provide a continuous climate record since 1923 for Eau Claire. His weather observations are also of great importance to his business, Tree-Mendus Fruit.
Teichman’s weather records retain their importance as time goes by. His long and continuous records provide an accurate picture of a locale’s normal weather, and give climatologists and others a basis for predicting future trends. The data that Teichman collects is invaluable for scientists studying floods, droughts and heat and cold waves. At the end of each month, he mails his weather observations to the local National Weather Service office, which then forwards the data on to the National Climatic Data Center for publication in “Climatological Data” or “Hourly Precipitation Data.”
The first extensive network of cooperative stations was set up in the 1890s as a result of an 1890 act of Congress that established the U.S. Weather Bureau.  Many of the stations have even longer histories. John Campanius Holm’s weather records, taken in what is now Wilmington, Del., without benefit of instruments in 1644 and 1645, were the earliest known recorded observations in the United States. Many historic figures have also maintained weather records, including Benjamin Franklin, George Washington and Thomas Jefferson.  Jefferson maintained an almost unbroken record of weather observations between 1776 and 1816, and Washington took weather observations just a few days before he died. The Jefferson and Holm awards are named for these weather observation pioneers.