Kenneth Blair, 73, checks an old-fashioned weather gauge in his backyard. Blair has a weather station at his home that receives information from a lightning detector on his roof along with wind speed and direction and rainfall totals.

If you want to know what the weather was like on your wedding day five years ago, or on the afternoon of last year’s baseball tournament, Robert Khoury is the man to talk to.

He has archives of daily weather conditions in Lawrence since 1997 and gets these kinds of requests all the time.

“People want to remember something or plan ahead for next year,” said Khoury, who operates a Web site with the only live weather feed in town.

Khoury is not a meteorologist but an information technology professional with a lifelong interest in weather. He’s one of dozens of Lawrence residents who follow the weather closely, often recording their observations.

“My job interferes with my hobbies,” said the 60-year-old Khoury.

Scott Whitmore, National Weather Service meteorologist, said he thinks Kansas’ unique climate is a reason why so many Kansans take an active interest in Mother Nature.

“This part of the country changes so much every day,” Whitmore said. “That alone gets people motivated.”

David Mechem, who teaches meteorology at Kansas University, suggests there may also be aesthetic factors at play to spark public interest.

“I lived in the Pacific Northwest for several years,” Mechem said, “and my impression is that this weather enthusiast phenomenon is more prevalent over the middle part of the country than the coast. Rather than mountains and ocean, our raw natural beauty is closely tied to weather phenomena.”

Technological advances

Though Khoury’s interest in the weather dates back to childhood, it was the late 1980s when advances in technology made home weather stations more affordable.

“But back then, even the good stuff wasn’t always reliable,” he said. “In the late ’90s it got more serious. I use a Weather Monitor II, with the addition of a Data Logger, which takes the information that the station receives from the sensors and converts it to computer speak. Ten or fifteen years ago this was all done by hand.”

He reports this information live on his Web site and uploads the data to sites such as weatherunderground.com. A software package called GRLevel X allows him to observe potential storm systems by accessing radar data.

“I don’t like destruction, but to see a storm take place is phenomenal,” Khoury said.

Kenneth Blair, who also has a home weather station, agrees.

“It’s fun when a storm goes through to see all the activity on screen,” said Blair, 73, who has been archiving his own weather information since 1994.

The rain gauge in the back yard of Blair’s Presbyterian Manor townhouse measures up to 1/100th of an inch at a time, and the lightning detector on his roof emits a high beep if there is any electrical activity in the area.

A mutual understanding with the management of his retirement community makes it possible for Blair to use the tools of his home weather station while maintaining good relations with the community.

“They allow me to put up my equipment in exchange for a summary of the weather each month,” Blair said.

Throughout the years, Blair has gathered more equipment to advance his weather-gathering capabilities, but he is not likely to follow the trends of technology.

“At my age, what I do is fascinating, so I’m happy with what I have,” he said.

SkyHawk assistance

Audrey Kamb-Studdard proves you don’t need to be a computer expert to be a weather junkie. She collects rain in a cup in her backyard.

“I just think it’s kind of fun to see rainfall around the city,” Kamb-Studdard said.

Like Khoury and Blair, Kamb-Studdard’s hobby also provides a valuable function for the community. She is a SkyHawk for 6News.

“I call in my rainfall amounts and temperature and note any wind conditions or any observations I have,” she said.

For Jennifer Schack, 6News chief meteorologist, these rain and snow totals are important.

“Since these variables are very dependent on location, it is great to know them,” Schack said. “I like reporting their totals on-air as well as having the knowledge of which side of town had more or less rain or snow.”

The National Weather Service also utilizes the public’s interest to enhance its information gathering. During the months of February and March, the NWS provides training sessions called Spotter Talks in each county in Kansas.

These sessions provide information on storm development and observation, and attendees may sign up to be cooperative observers if space is available.

“They help with emergencies or storm warnings,” said Whitmore of the NWS. “It all works together. : We rely on them a lot.”

For true weather junkies, this hobby is about more than spotting storms or collecting data. It is a deep-rooted fascination with the uncontrollable force of Mother Nature.

As Khoury said, “During the stormy times, and even less stormy times, of the year, there is nearly always something interesting going on.”