Long-time weather watcher honored for service

Each day during spring runoff, Hugh Hastings Jr. would collect flow data on the Smith River and report his findings to the National Weather Service.

"Hugh was interested in the weather, and keeping track of it," his wife, Alana Hastings, said Friday.

Hastings gathered information on the Smith River, and precipitation, for the Weather Service in Great Falls for 45 years.

For his commitment, Hastings was posthumously awarded the Dick Hagemeyer Award at ceremony at the NWS office in Great Falls.

Hagemeyer's career spanned 51 years with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the last 20 as director of the NWS' Pacific Region.

The award in his name recognizes weather observers such as Hastings who have 45 years of service, a length of commitment that's becoming less common these days, according to NWS officials.

"I doubt we could function very well without your help," Don Britton, meteorologist-in-charge at the NWS in Great Falls, told Alana Hastings, who accepted the award, including a letter of commendation from NWS Director Louis W. Uccellini, on Hugh's behalf.

Hastings died of heart-related complications in 2013. He was 74.

"I feel moved," Alana said of the honor.

The family's livelihood, crops and cattle, are intertwined with the river and precipitation, which made Hugh especially interested in weather conditions, Alana said.

Cattle, for one, need to be moved to higher ground if the Smith River floods, she noted.

Hastings collected flow readings on the Smith River and precipitation data, particularly during spring runoff.

Information provided by Hastings helped forecasters come up with a good idea of how much water was flowing in the Missouri River through Great Falls.

The station at Truly bridge where Hastings took readings is the last weather station on the Smith before it dumps into the Missouri River.

About 100 cooperative observers in northcentral, central and southcentral Montana take routine weather observations for the Weather Service to augment readings taken from seven automated sites.

The information collected by the observers is critical to work of the Weather Service, said Jim Brusda, a Weather Service forecaster.

"They take observations year-round, and by doing that we get access to reliable information for areas we wouldn't have data for," he said.

There are fewer observers today, said Gina Loss, a Weather Service hydrologist.

About a third of the weather data stations are located at farms and ranches.

More and more, younger generations are moving away from rural areas, Loss said.

"And it's very difficult to find people to replace them," she said.

Data needs to be collected at the same time each day, Brusda said. It takes commitment.

"It's just really hard to get them to do a daily (reading)," he said.

Matthew Hastings, Hugh's son, said his father used to check the river each morning from April 1 through June when retrieved the mail and newspaper.

"Kind of part of his routine," he said.

For many years, Hastings used the telephone to report the information, but in later years he sent it via computer.

There's a long history of weather observation at the Hastings ranch.

Observations for Ulm near the Truly station began in October 1946 with Hugh Hastings Sr., Hugh's father. Lempi V. Hastings, Hugh Sr.'s wife, took over observations in March 1964 after Hugh Sr. died. She continued the readings in until April 1969. That's when Hugh Jr. picked it up. He continued the readings for 45 years.

Now Alana, who had served as the secondary observer during Hugh Jr.'s tenure, is the primary observer.

"I'm going to continue doing it as well," she said.

Reach Tribune Staff Writer Karl Puckett at 406-791-1471, 1-800-438-6600. Twitter: @GFTrib_KPuckett.