Wonderful weather watcher

Princeville Makai Golf Club assistant superintendent Damian Baptiste was recently selected as a winner of the 2022 John Companius Holm Award from the National Weather Service Headquarters in Silver Spring, Maryland.

The prestigious award is presented each year to no more than 25 cooperative weather observers from across the country for their outstanding service in the field of weather observations. According to the NWS, there are approximately 11,000 weather observers nationwide.

Baptiste has personally tracked weather data and patterns at Princeville Makai Golf Club, located on Kauai’s North Shore in Hawaii, for more than 36 years. He has reported his readings and observations to the National Weather Service on a daily basis since 1985. In addition, Baptiste’s data and knowledge are used to predict if the golf property will receive rain and if disturbances will form into hurricanes. Princeville Makai Golf Club annually receives more than 90 inches of rain per year.

“For the more than 36 years we have been collecting data and the entire team has worked diligently to achieve this fantastic recognition,” Baptiste said. “It is truly an honor to receive this award from the National Weather Service.”

Created in 1959, the Holm Award provides the NWS with a way to honor cooperative weather observers for outstanding accomplishments in the field of meteorological observations. The namesake for this award is a Lutheran minister, John Campanius Holm, the first known person to have taken systematic weather observations in the American Colonies. Reverend Holm made observations of climate without the use of instruments in 1644 and 1645, near the present site of Wilmington, Delaware. He is considered by some to be the first weatherman in America. In later years, his son had his records published.