Cooperative weather observations began at the University of the South in Sewanee, on March 1, 2000. Since that time, more than 8,300 observations have been recorded, with quite a wide variety of wild weather in those 20-plus years. Here are just a few of the notable weather tidbits over the last 20ish years:

More than 1,455 inches of rain have been measured during this time, which equates to over 121 feet of rain if it had all fallen at once. The wettest year on record was 2020, when 99.09” fell. The driest year on record was during the widespread drought of 2007, when only 34.17” fell. The wettest day measured at Sewanee occurred on April 27, 2011 when 5.16” fell. Conversely, regarding snowfall at the site, over 90” of snow have been measured since 2000, which equates to just over 7.5 feet if it all fell at once. The snowiest year on record was this year (2022), when 15.8” of snow fell (12.8” of that fell in January 2022 alone). The snowiest day on record occurred back on Jan. 10, 2011 when 7” fell.

A wide array of temperatures have also been observed since the site began in 2000. The warmest temperature recorded occurred in June of 2012 when 101F was observed. Conversely, the coldest morning low temperature recorded at Sewanee was in January of 2003 when -4F occurred.

The NWS is thankful for the teamwork of observers through the 20-plus years at the University of the South, and appreciate their hard work and service to provide the National Weather Service with observational weather data. From NWS Director Ken Graham, NWS Southern Region Director Mike Coyne, NWS Huntsville Meteorologist-in-Charge Todd Barron, and local Observations Program Leader at NWS Huntsville Chelly Amin, we congratulate Sandy Gilliam, Nathan Wilson, Nicole Nunley, and everyone else along the way on receiving this 20 Year Length of Service Award.