Weather Watching Has Its Highs, Lows

Archie and Gwen Leach don’t just talk about the weather, they do something about it.

Every two hours from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Every day of the year. Every year for the past 50 years.

The Leaches are among the nation’s most venerable volunteer weather observers for the National Weather Service, as this year Archie marks his 50th anniversary and Gwen her 35th.

They continue a tradition established by Archie’s grandfather, Archibald Campbell, who served as Campo’s weather data collector in the late 1890s and early 1900s. Campbell witnessed the Aug. 12, 1891, Campo deluge of 11.5 inches in 80 minutes, a record that still stands as the most rain ever in California in such a short time.

The Leaches are among a dwindling number of individuals who provide such daily information. Because of the time and effort involved in serving as an observer--no vacations, no days off--most volunteer stations today are at government outposts such as fire and park ranger stations.

The Leaches not only provide temperature and rainfall data for the media but take barometer, wind speed, wind direction and visibility readings used in updating aviation forecasts for private pilots. Their mountainous Campo ranch is the only reporting station between the eastern fringes of urban San Diego and El Centro 100 miles to the east in Imperial County.

While the Leaches grumble good-naturedly about the $1.60 per phone call that they receive for calling the weather station at Lindbergh Field, they do love their weather work.

A quick tour around the Leaches’ house reveals decorative thermometers and barometers in almost every room, from little calendar thermometers to window models to fancy wall versions. But the couple is quick to assure a visitor that they never use anything but the official instruments--in fine shape after more than a quarter-century of use--sitting outside in an elevated white box on the northeast side of the house.

Gwen’s views on weather have come a long way from her high school days in Alberta. Back then, she took a meteorologycourse and thought the subject suitable only for men.

“The other night there was a big towering cloud about 5 p.m., with lightning, a beautiful show we watched from the living room window,” she said.

Their interest in the weather is demonstrated when they go out in the middle of the night during a driving rainstorm to check the rain gauge because curiosity has gotten the better of them and they can’t wait until morning.

The Leaches can recall by heart the various wet and dry spells that have afflicted San Diego County during the past half-century.

Wilbur Shigehara, chief meteorologist at the San Diego weather service office, praised the Leaches for their accuracy over the years. Archie has received the John Campanious Holm Award, the highest honor for weather observers. It is named for North America’s earliest known weather volunteer, who did the job in 1644.

Indeed, the question of accuracy involved Archie’s grandfather for many years. For almost 50 years after the 1891 Campo deluge, Archibald Campbell corresponded with various officials of the National Weather Service to persuade them that the rainfall reading had been properly recorded.

Campbell attested to the ability of a Mr. Collins, a U.S. Signal Corps officer stationed in Campo in 1891 who had responsibility for the glass-measure rain gauge. Collins preceded Campbell as the area’s weather observer. Weather officials in Washington were not satisfied until laborious effort traced the serial number on the rain gauge back to an order form that Collins had filed with the weather service in Los Angeles.

Gwen, who takes most of the daily readings now, is a real stickler for accuracy. She even turns on the short-wave radio to get the official U.S. government time tone from Boulder, Colo., before taking her weather information every two hours.

“The only thing is that it’s like pulling teeth to get someone to substitute for you,” Gwen said, “since you can’t leave the house without someone to do the measurements.” A next-door neighbor now has been certified by the weather service to take temperature and rainfall data when the Leaches take a vacation.

They took their first trip in more than a decade earlier this summer, to Expo ’86 in Vancouver, Canada.

Their only other complaint is that only one of San Diego’s three television weathercasters uses the Campo temperatures on the news show, despite the hard work the Leaches go through to obtain it every day.

“Bob Dale (Channel 39) always mentions us, while the others stand and block any view of Campo on their maps,” Archie said.

“And he always talks about our long thermometer,” a reference to the large difference between the high and low temperatures each day in the mountain town.