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This article appeared in the Summer 1997 issue of New Mexico Resources.

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Weather affects us every day. It determines our moods, damages our vehicles, contributes to our allergies, and raises our insurance rates. It's also Ted Sammis' career.

As state climatologist, Sammis helps New Mexicans understand the impact of climate changes on the environment, human health, and agricultural production. He is responsible for archiving weather data and distributing climate information to the public.

But sometimes even a climatologist doesn't heed weather warnings.

"I had been planning a fishing trip for some time, but when I checked the weather, snow was forecast," says Sammis, a hydrologist with NMSU's Agricultural Experiment Station. He even called a national weather bureau to double check the forecast, and again the prediction was snow. Using his own judgment, Sammis went fishing anyway -- only to find himself casting his line amid snowflakes.

Unlike a meteorologist, a climatologist does not provide weather forecasting or up-to-the-minute bulletins. Instead, Sammis uses a computerized data collection system to provide statewide weather reports for previous days, as well as historical information.

"Data alone is nonsensical," Sammis says. "Our goal is to put climate data into a form people can use to make decisions about their lives."

Electronic data logger machines collect weather data from 25 sites across the state from Farmington to Loving and from Clayton to Deming. These sensors monitor air temperature, relative humidity, soil temperature and moisture, precipitation, solar radiation, and wind speed and direction.

NMSU's computer automatically updates its climate data base each evening by calling every data logger. "We have the only real-time climate data in the state," Sammis says.

The data logger weather stations are owned by NMSU, the City of Albuquerque, local farmers, and the federal highway department, he says. Each of these individuals or organizations has an interest in New Mexico's climate. NMSU uses weather information for agricultural research, while the City of Albuquerque estimates watering needs of grass in city parks. Farmers watch weather trends to manage irrigation and pest control, and the highway department uses the information to develop roads that can withstand the elements.

In addition to electronic collection, more than 50 volunteers statewide record their daily, local temperature and rainfall and send this information to the National Center for Data Collection. The NCDC maintains a national weather data base dating back more than 100 years.

This wealth of information is accessible through the New Mexico Climate Center on the World Wide Web . Teachers who want to prepare lesson plans about the climate can go to the web site for guidance. Homeowners who want to know how long to wait between lawn waterings, and soil conservationists who want to understand chemical movement through soil also can find help on the site. Even allergy sufferers can turn to the internet for air quality and pollen count levels.

For farmers, weather data can help determine when to plant and irrigate, and how long it takes insects to reach maturity. "All agriculture computer models deal with climate data, whether they're planting models, drought models, evaporation models, or water runoff models," Sammis says.

"One of the most interesting requests I've received was from an insurance company. They were processing a claim for someone who was injured by slipping on some ice, and the company wanted to know if it was actually cold enough that day to form ice."

The Climate Center web site also contains links to other weather-related sites on the internet including a forecast of wildfire potential in the West and a sunrise/sunset time calculator. "The internet is a distributive system," he says. "It's irrelevant where information is located as long as you can link to it."

And that's exactly what people are doing. Sammis' web site receives approximately 6,000 "hits" or visitors per year. He's not surprised that people are interested in New Mexico's weather, though.

"I've lived in a lot of sunny places including Florida, California, and Hawaii," Sammis says. "But even after spending time each year in the tropics, I return to New Mexico because I like the climate."