He’s still measuring inches over 50 years

Bill Ryan

Bill Ryan

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

— With a standard eight-inch rain gauge in his backyard, Billy Ryan, can measure precipitation from the confines of his home in Pea Ridge.

After graduating from Rogers High School in 1962, Ryan went on his journey toward becoming a climatologist for the National Weather Service.

Before he joined the military, he was a farmer who was “weather conscience” and heard about weather proverbs such as a persimmon seed predicting snow for the first of winter.

Sitting on his computer desk is an old, tarnished book titled “Weather Proverbs” dating back to 1883. The book contains proverbs that seem silly to Ryan, but bring a smile to his face during discussion.

Ryan worked with the military from 1956-1960 as a weather reporter.

“As the military encouraged me to go through the courses and training, I felt like it was a natural fit to be a weather reporter,” he said.

Throughout his career, Ryan has attended Penn State, Utah State, Wichita State and the University of Arkansas.

His education was spread out over his years as a climatologist, but U of A was the only college he attended full-time while residing on campus.

After receiving trainingthrough the military and an education through various universities, Ryan applied for a job with a civilian weather service, the National Weather Service.

Ryan was employed by the National Weather Service and forecasted the weather such as storm and flood warnings. His career as a climatologist through the National Weather Service lasted 35 years, but he continues to forecast the weather today.

“Predicting a storm was the icing on the cake to my job,” he said. “It felt like you were doing something meaningful immediately.”

Ryan moved to Pea Ridge five years ago and joined the Pea Ridge Optimist Club as an act of community service.

The eight-inch rain gauge he houses in his backyard was previously used by the National Weather Service and measure rain precipitation in which he reports his findings to the CommunityCollaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network.

From his findings, Ryan has realized that we are in a definite period of climate change.

“We’re seeing significant weather extremes more than we’ve seen in the past,” he said.

The 75-year-old climatologist may be retired, but his service to provide weather forecasts lives on as he continues to report his findings weekly.

News, Pages 1 on 07/27/2011