SWAN VALLEY – Since 1981, husband and wife team Marty and Claudia Kux can be found daily at 6 p.m. recording the weather at their Lindbergh Lake home. Diligence and dedication has earned the couple the distinguished Thomas Jefferson Award, the National Weather Services’ top honor for cooperative weather observers, said Corby Dickerson IV, National Weather Service Observing Program Leader. They join the ranks of only five others in the Missoula forecast area and 13 Montanans that have received this honor since 1960. The Kuxes will be recognized in a virtual ceremony Oct. 25.
The Thomas Jefferson Award originated in 1959 to honor cooperative weather observers for unusual and outstanding achievements in the field of meteorological observations. Weather observers nationwide are dedicated individuals that track temperature and precipitation. The award is named for the third president of the United States. Jefferson, the statesman-scientist, made an almost unbroken series of weather observations from 1776 to 1816. His old instruments may now be seen at Monticello, his home in Charlottesville, Virginia.
Since 1960 only four other observers in the Missoula forecast area have received this high distinction, said Dickerson. They were Mary F. Harker, Heron, Montana, 1978; Edward T. Gilroy, Kooskia, Idaho, 1979; Alice and Bob Rickman, Grangeville, Idaho, 2003; and Arnold Finklin, Missoula (Rattlesnake), Montana, 2007.
”In fact, this year for the first time ever, two Thomas Jefferson Awards will be given to Montanans.” In addition to the Kuxes, Bill Schwarzkoph of Forsyth, Montana will also be recognized.
“It’s obviously quite the honor with up to five people receiving it annually,” Dickerson said. ”Being able to write nominations and present these awards to my observers is really gratifying for me.”
Marty and his wife took over duties from John Stark, Dickerson said. Stark kept records from 1959 until 1981 when he was no longer able. Stark’s residence was less than a quarter mile as the crow flies from the Kux’s. The NWS felt the new location maintained the climate consistency within the database. The Lindbergh Lake site has only had two operators in its history, Dickerson said.
Along with a mechanical engineering degree from General Motors Institute, Marty has a two-year degree in accounting and a two-year degree in business management.
“I found that I was attracted to numbers more than mechanical things,” Marty said. “So, that’s why I think I like keeping track of the weather.”
The Kuxes were supplied with the standard rain gauge, snowboard, liquid and glass thermometers inside of a shelter, what the NWS calls Cotton Region Shelter, Dickerson said. Over the years, the system upgraded to a digital thermometer.
They now have a display inside of their house that continuously shows the temperature. Every day at the same time Marty records the temperature and precipitation.
“I can tell you, pretty much habitually, he does it at the same time,” Dickerson said. “Marty goes and takes down the weather. He goes outside, measures the liquid precipitation, measures the amount of snow on the snowboard and the snow depth at his station.”
Marty then records the high and the low temperature along with the observation temperature.
“Marty is a fantastic observer,” Dickerson said. “He includes a diary of the daily weather events. He goes into great detail annotating the weather, something that we really don’t see much of anymore in our weather observers. He has been fantastic at marking down what happened when it happened and how it happened.”
Marty and Claudia are a partnership, Dickerson said. Together they have taken these observations. “Whenever Marty isn’t available, or able to, usually Claudia’s around,” Dickerson said.
“Marty and Claudia have done a great job of educating their neighbors and friends so when they do take a vacation … there is someone to step in a take the observations,” Dickerson said.
“Weather is a big thing up here,” Claudia said. “I noticed that when I went to move to Montana. So many people do outside things, whether it is work or recreation. Everybody seems to pay attention to the weather, much more than if you’re in a city or something like that.”
Marty relocated to Montana from New York when the company he was working for moved. Claudia followed a year later from the Washington D.C. area. She was a part time librarian at the Swan Valley Library for 30 years. Marty continues to do accounting, bookkeeping and tax preparation for a few clients but is winding down his home business.
The Kuxes received the John Campanius Holm Award five years ago. Reverend Holm is the first known person to have taken systematic weather observations in the American Colonies. Reverend Holm made weather observations of climate without the use of instruments in 1644 and 1645, near the present site of Wilmington, Delaware.
The National Weather Service offers multiple outlets for those people who are interested in weather observations. “For the most deeply dedicated, and for maintaining our nation’s climate network, we have the Cooperative Observation Program,” Dickerson said. “This is what I manage. This is the data that we use to measure changes in the country. This is the data used when there are disaster declarations and insurance companies start looking at those claims. This is one of the datasets used for evaluating climate change and any type of things that you need to do to understand how the Earth is changing.”
Contact Dickerson at 406-329-4713 for more information about the National Weather Service volunteer observer program.
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