Contributing weather data to forecasters nationwide
June 2026
Powhatan, Va., resident Brad Blase is among a nationwide network of citizen observers helping scientists and forecasters better understand weather conditions on the ground. (Laura Emery photo)
by Laura Emery, Staff Writer
Brad Blase has a front-row seat to Mother Nature’s shifting moods.
From a small solar-powered station on the back patio of his home in Powhatan, Va., he tracks shifting winds, rising humidity, subtle swings in temperature and barometric pressure changes that hint at what may come next.
“The weather is highly variable. Even seasons, year to year, can be so different,” the Southside Electric Cooperative member says.
Blase has always been fascinated by the weather. “As a child, I had a plastic outdoor thermometer I checked every day,” he recalls.
What began as childhood curiosity has grown into a serious hobby — one that places him among a nationwide network of citizen observers helping scientists and forecasters better understand weather conditions on the ground.
A self-described “weather geek,” Blase is a professional geologist whose interest in the weather deepened years ago when he and his wife, Beth, were living in Winchester.
“In Winchester, we built a house [served by Shenandoah Valley Electric Cooperative] on the side of North Mountain, and it was very windy. I was curious about how fast the wind was blowing, so I purchased the Davis weather station I have now,” he explains.
Soon, Blase was hooked and sharing his data online. He got involved in CoCoRaHS — Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network — a nationwide volunteer effort to collect precipitation measurements using standardized rain gauges.
“The National Weather Service spot-checks their data using citizens’ rain gauge data,” he says. “When I started with CoCoRaHS in 2005, there were only a couple thousand observers. Now, there are over 20,000.”
The instrument on Blase’s porch transmits readings to a console inside his home. That data is shared with multiple online platforms, making it available to researchers and meteorologists nationwide, including the National Weather Service.
“The data helps NWS ground-truth [compare radar estimates to ground measurements] its radar data. Thunderstorms, especially, are highly variable in rainfall. Instantaneous reports are more accurate than what radar can estimate, so it helps NWS predict where flooding may occur,” he says.
From a plastic outdoor thermometer to a sophisticated weather station, Blase is doing what he’s always done — keeping his eyes on the skies.