On the day we talked to Jeff Aborn, Staffordville got nearly half its normal monthly rainfall in one morning — but the sun was shining when we showed up at his house. Of course, Jeff knew it would be. All this rainy summer weather is due to a winter pattern that’s been forcing the Jet Stream out of place and keeping Jeff busy. Luckily, he’s retired now and has plenty of time to track the weather for the rest of us.
Back in 1999, Jeff signed up for the Weather Classroom with Channel 3 after a life-long interest in weather. Then in 2003, Jeff's name came up when the National Weather Service needed a new weather observer between Windsor Locks and Willimantic. Now, 20 years later, Jeff is a local legend — with an international following. If you live in (or near) Stafford and you want to know what the weather is going to be, you don’t need to watch the news. You just pull up Jeff’s Facebook or Twitter pages and see what he’s saying about the day. (If you’re not on social media, you can follow Jeff through the Weather Underground app.) But even if you do tune into the local news, you may hear Jeff’s name and see some of his observations.
A tour of his yard reveals the tools that make this all possible. Some of it is from the National Weather Service, designed to help him measure rainfall or how much liquid is in the snow. Some of it — like the “snow board” — doesn’t look like much at all but is an ingeniously simple solution. You know how, early in the season, the snow doesn’t always stick when the ground is still warm? The board avoids that, giving Jeff the most accurate measurement. But there’s also high-tech equipment he has invested in, giving him automated measurements of wind speed, humidity, dew points, temperature, and rainfall. It connects to a device inside, so even when Jeff is away on vacation, he can keep an eye on the weather and let his followers know what to expect. And we haven’t even gotten to the radar services and other online tools that Jeff subscribes to, all in the name of ensuring the people of Stafford have the most accurate weather information available.
And remember how we said Jeff has an international following? Well, his Facebook stats show followers in Germany, Algeria, and a number of other countries — but there’s one particularly engaged fan in Italy who will ask about weather conditions where his family is in New Britain. And he asks in Italian. Jeff is nice enough to not only answer the question but to translate the question and his response using Google Translate.
So, if you're notalready following Jeff Aborn's Weather Staffordville, CT do so now. Next time the skies are looking iffy and you aren't sure if you should take that raincoat, you'll be happy you followed Jeff.
[A version of this story first appeared on the Explore Stafford Facebook page.]