A Yemassee man tracked the weather every day for 31 years. Now, he’s being recognized
Tom Risse never had a particular interest in weather.
But for 31 years, he’s been tracking the temperature and amount of rainfall in Yemassee every single day.
“The only time Yemassee didn’t have a weather station was during the Civil War,” Risse laughed, and he’s the man who has really kept that impressive feat going since the late 1980s.
Risse, who worked at Alpha Genesis Inc. until he retired in 2017, kind of inherited the task.
Every day, as part of the National Weather Services’ Cooperative Observer Program, he would check the thermometer and rain gauge at the Alpha Genesis site at 4:30 p.m. when he left work. Then, once he retired, the daily task — and equipment —followed him.
Officials helped install the equipment in Risse’s backyard. Now he checks the readings at 8 every morning.
When he knows he won’t be home because of an out-of-town trip or some other engagement, he makes sure someone else can check the readings and make notes to be included in the monthly report he sends to the National Weather Service in Charleston.
“It’s pretty great that he has kept up with it all these years,” said Rebecca Davidson, meteorologist at the Charleston office. “It’s hard to do it every day, and he never misses a day.”
Davidson and fellow meteorologist Ron Morales drove to Yemassee to present Risse with a certificate thanking him for his 31 years of service in the observer program. He also received a government service pin and a letter from the National Weather Service and the state climatologist.
“He’s a great observer, and we definitely appreciate everything he does,” Davidson said. “It’s important because it’s the ground truth and super reliable data that we’re getting.”
Risse said he plans to continue tracking the weather for as long as he can.
