Before television, when Virginia Derbyshire was a child, she liked to play a game she called “radio” with her little sister.
She’d crawl into an orange crate and do an imaginary weather forecast. One day, she predicted snow, and the next day it snowed. “Well, I thought that was pretty good,” said Virginia who still carries forward her intense interest in the weather.
Now 85 and living atop Springtown Hill, Virginia checks her backyard weather station promptly at 7 a.m. daily. She records maximum/minimum temperatures, rainfall, snowfall and snow depth. She then sends her data via computer to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) National Weather Service Office in Mount Holly, N.J.
With the exception of one three-month stretch when she was hospitalized after a car accident she’s been doing that since October 1990. For many of those years she was also caring for her late husband who was a stroke victim.
For her dedication and service, NOAA has presented Virginia the 2021 John Campanius Holm Award for distinguished service to the nation through its Cooperative Observer Program. During a virtual ceremony in November. she received a plaque and an American flag that had flown over the U.S. Capitol.
“I was stunned, elated really. It’s pretty big,” she said of her award. She’s also been recognized by U.S. Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) and U.S. Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-1).
During a big storm, like the one last February that dumped 31.2 inches of snow on Upper Bucks, Virginia said, “I go out every four hours to do new measurements.” A widow, she lives alone and that storm found her shoveling her way to the weather station each time.
“I would measure the inches and also melt down a core sample of snow to get the water equivalent. That’s important because it tells where and how bad floods will be. All that information is sitting out there in the snow.”
Virginia said, “The weather station is in Bucks but my home is in Northampton County. The county line runs right through my back yard.” So, occasionally does a black bear. She has a photo of a big one sauntering between the weather station and her house.
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