Norfolk Cooperative Weather Station gets new equipment

By Colleen Gundlach

Much of Norfolk’s identity is tied to the weather. The town is known not only as the Icebox of Connecticut, but it is also well known for its historical weather station located in Great Mountain Forest (GMF). Norfolk Now readers are very familiar with the Norfolk Weather monthly column, which has been written by Russell Russ for the past 19 years. However, readers may not know that behind that column is a history rooted deeply in Norfolk’s past.

Known as Norfolk2SW, the GMF weather station has been an icon of Norfolk life since Edward (Ted) Childs established it at his family home, Coolwater, in 1932. The station was built as part of Childs’ master’s thesis about the microclimatic influence of hemlock trees. After completing his degree, Childs decided to continue to record the daily weather observations. These have been made and recorded every day since Jan. 1, 1932. The weather office at GMF contains historical records and vintage weather equipment dating back to that first day of its existence—a wealth of local historical knowledge.

The name Norfolk 2SW was assigned by the National Weather Service (NWS) in 1942, when the station was officially recognized as a Cooperative Weather Observer Station. The 2SW indicates that the station is located two miles southwest of the Norfolk Post Office, which is the way the NWS labels its weather locations. Norfolk 2SW has since been designated a Reference Climatological Station, one of only 21 across the country.

Since that day in 1932, the Norfolk weather station has moved to the GMF property and has had a few changes in equipment, but it still continues to be monitored every morning at 8 a.m. Russ’s father, Darrell Russ, took over the job from Childs and continued until 2000.

 The station was covered by other GMF people for a few years until 2003, when Russell became Norfolk’s weather man. This station continues to report the town’s weather observations to the NWS each day.

 An additional weather station, a Davis Instruments station, went online at GMF in 2003. This automated station was not associated with the NWS, but did transmit data to a variety of weather networks, including Weather Underground.

The automated station was replaced twice over 20 years and in 2024 was in need of another replacement. Since the station was not used for official NWS reporting, GMF was at first a little reluctant to spend the money needed to replace the unit, but with encouragement from dedicated and interested Norfolkians, GMF funds were made available to purchase a new station.

The new station, a Davis Instruments Vantage Pro 2 (wireless), has a 24-hour fan aspirated radiation shield and broadcasts via WeatherLink software. It was installed next to the Norfolk 2SW equipment.

Norfolk’s Matt Bannerman donated the use of his bucket lift to assist with the installation of the anemometer atop the existing 33-feet tall tower for wind observations. “My father always wanted to be able to track wind speeds and wind gusts, but we didn’t have the right equipment,” said Russ. “I’m glad to finally be able to track this accurately.”

According to Russ, most automated stations cannot measure precipitation during the winter months when temperatures are below freezing. The new Norfolk station is no exception. However, the NWS observations need to include precipitation observations in all seasons, so Russ relies on old tried-and-true methods. He says snow and sleet are “melted to get a liquid equivalent of any frozen precipitation,” which he then pours into measuring devices. The automated system cannot measure snowfall and snow-on-the-ground observations, either, so those will continue to be done manually by Russ. Wind readings will be very accurate with the new station.

The importance of the automated station is that it will “provide an excellent comparison” of data received through the new station and the existing NWS station, which will continue to be observed manually, as it has for the past 93 years. In addition, the automated weather station will broadcast readings via the internet and can be viewed by everyone.

Russ takes the recording of Norfolk’s weather history very seriously, and he continues to maintain the high standards that have always been the backbone of the GMF weather station. From his daily 8 a.m. treks to the station each morning, rain or shine, to his detailed historical records of Norfolk weather, each day is carefully recorded and transmitted.

To obtain Norfolk’s accurate up-to-date weather conditions at any given time, go to Weather Underground at KCTNORF015, CWOP (GW5867) or WeatherLink (GMF forestry office.)