Weather shapes lives and takes lives. Donner Memorial State Park is a testimony to that fact. The park is also a 50-year collaborator in weather data collection and was honored by the National Weather Service with the presentation of a framed certificate of recognition.

and#8220;It takes a lot of dedication to buckle down and do this on a daily basis and we are very thankful for it,and#8221; said Rudy Cruz, Cooperative Program Manager for the National Weather Service. Volunteers at the park measure maximum and minimum temperatures, precipitation and snow and snow depth on a daily basis and report this information to the National Weather Service.

At Donner Memorial State Park, volunteers check the statistics every morning at 8 a.m. Susan Grove, Sector Superintendent for the State Park fondly recalls trying to melt frozen water on a utility stove. Or driving it around with the heater on in a car. Park Ranger Don Schmidt made stabbing motions with his hand, and said and#8220;The coolest part was trying to break the ice and get the stick in the bucket.and#8221;

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and#8220;We provide campers with information here at Donner Memorial, like and#8216;Whatand#8217;s the temperature going to be like if I visit in September?and#8217;,and#8221; said Grove. and#8220;And itand#8217;s interesting to look at trends.and#8221;

Fifty years ago, there werenand#8217;t a lot of other weather stations. Now, there are 60 stations in Western Nevada and Northeast California, including the Tahoe Basin. Nationally, 12,000 volunteers collect data, which is sent to the database in Asheville, N.C.

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The information is used to make climate predictions, utilized by residents, law enforcement and the construction industry.

The main mission of the National Weather Service is to protect lives and property and alert the public with warnings and watches for winter storms, flash floods, lake winds and severe thunderstorms.

The Reno Tahoe area has seen the third wettest June as of the 18th, which should delay the fire season. The wettest was June 1920.

and#8220;Weand#8217;re going to get more typical summer weather by the end of next week,and#8221; said National Weather Service Meteorologist Jane Hollingsworth.

Visit http://www.nws.noaa.gov for up-to-date weather information.