Brother Anselm Allen, OSB, of Subiaco Abbey received the prestigious Thomas Jefferson Award from the National Weather Service for his service to the Cooperative Weather Observer Program. In the past year, only six observers out of the nearly 12,000 observers nationwide have received the award.
Recognizing Brother Anselm’s 44 years of service, the award was presented March 25 by Steven Cooper, deputy regional director for the National Weather Service Southern Region.
“Cooperative observers are the bedrock of weather data collection and analysis,” said Jack Hayes, director of the 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.”
The National Weather Service honored the monk in 2003 with the John Campanius Holm Award.
Brother Anselm became a “cooperative observer” in 1965. He has the longest tenure at the abbey since Benedictine monks began taking weather observations in 1897. During the past four decades, the forecast office in Little Rock has come to rely on the monk’s observation reports, which are characterized by their accuracy and timeliness. He is required to provide daily reports on temperature, precipitation and other weather factors, such as snow depth, river levels and soil temperature.
Brother Anselm is also an amateur radio operator and has been active in the ham radio weather net. Radio operators provide a valuable service to the National Weather Service whenever severe weather occurs in Arkansas.
