How 407 donors carried a 141-year scientific record through a hard year.
Donor Impact Report for fiscal year 2026
One line for every year since the first observation on February 1, 1885. There are no gaps.
Alex J. Evans-Schneiderman, Ph.D., President & CEO
“Our small team of observers makes up the difference themselves.”
A letter from our President & CEO
As the Blue Hill Observatory closed its fiscal year on August 31, we took time to reflect on the outstanding support we received from our community of individual donors, who stood with us through the highs and lows of a very busy year. Between September 1, 2025, and August 31, 2026, 407 of you gave $267,462. That is the most donors and the most dollars of any year in our records, with twice as many donors as the year before. Thank you.
This year, you helped us face a challenge that has been quietly building. The daily weather record is the heart of the Observatory, and it has long run on the leanest staff possible. A trained observer must be on the summit every day of the year, including weekends, holidays and storms, to take observations at 7 AM, 10 AM and 1 PM. During a snowstorm, snow is measured every six hours around the clock. That is about 3,700 hours of work a year, and our budget pays for roughly 2,860 of them. Our small team of observers, led by Chief Observer Matt Douglas, who has been on the hill since 1997, make up the difference themselves.
In June, we launched our Save the Record campaign to change that. Because of you, the record that began on February 1, 1885, did not miss a single day this year. Every observation taken on Great Blue Hill this year carries your name, whatever the size of your gift. You kept a 141-year promise alive, and you made sure the next generation will inherit an unbroken record of the weather and climate of New England to navigate and understand a changing climate.
I hope you will come see what you made possible, and from wherever you are, our live webcams are always open.
With gratitude,Alex J. Evans-Schneiderman, Ph.D.President & CEO, Blue Hill Observatory & Science Center
The year in numbers
51,711
Consecutive days observed, from February 1, 1885 through August 31, 2026. Not one was missed, including every day of this year.
Individual donors, the most in our records and twice as many as the year before.
Given by individuals, the most of any year in our records.
Donors gave within weeks of the June 30 vandalism to repair windows and secure the summit.
Local and national meteorologists lent their voices to Save the Record.
Of all Observatory revenue came from individual donors.
Observations taken this year, about three a day, every day.
Of snow on February 22–23, the third-largest single-day snowfall in 141 years.
On July 2, a new record for the date. May 19 set another, at 95°F.
First-time donors this year, 62% of all donors.
Of FY2025 donors gave again, up from 32% the year before.
Members joined or renewed this year. Join them
Of gifts were $100 or less. Every one counted.
You showed up
A colder, snowier winter, the second-warmest June on record, a summer tied for the warmest, and July skies hazed by Canadian wildfire smoke. Our observers recorded all of it, and you carried them through.
Summit temperatures, September 2025 to August 2026. Shading spans the average daily high and low for each month, the solid line is the monthly mean, and the dashed line is the 1991–2020 normal. Source: monthly weather summaries by Michael J. Iacono, Chief Scientist. Read the winter summary or explore the climate data.
Winter
Your year-end gifts carried the Observatory through the winter. Our observers were on the summit for every observation, including the February 22–23 storm that buried Great Blue Hill under 24.8 inches of snow. In May, they were there again to record 95°F, a new record for the date.
June
As funding for science grew uncertain across the country, we launched Save the Record to protect our 141-year climate record. Sixteen meteorologists lent their voices, and you answered. Many of you gave to the Observatory for the very first time.
June 30
Vandals broke three of our windows. Within weeks, more than 100 of you gave to repair the damage and strengthen security on the summit. Through it all, the daily observations never stopped.
All year
You renewed your memberships, honored Charlie Orloff’s 20 years of leadership, remembered loved ones, made a transformational gift for environmental conservation, and gave wherever the need was greatest.
What you protected
You cannot go back and measure yesterday’s weather.
Since February 1, 1885, observers on Great Blue Hill have recorded the weather every day, with the same care and consistent methods. That consistency is what makes the record so valuable: it lets scientists compare a winter today with a winter in the 1890s and trust the difference.
Once a day is missed, it is gone for good. Each year the record continues, it becomes harder to replace and more useful to the researchers, educators, and forecasters who rely on it.
More than 100 of these years were recorded by hand in logbooks. Digitizing them, so anyone can use the full record, is the next great chapter of this work. See the digitization project.
Continuous weather record in the Western Hemisphere.
Privately operated WMO Centennial Observing Station in the United States.
A National Historic Landmark on the summit of Great Blue Hill.
Abbott Lawrence Rotch founds the Observatory. The first observation is taken on February 1.
The sunshine record begins, now the longest in North America.
Kites lift weather instruments aloft from the summit, early steps in upper-air science.
Blue Hill Observatory & Science Center is founded to share the science with the public.
141 years and 51,711 days. Still unbroken, because of you.
150 years of observations. Planning has begun.
What you made possible
Students and educators reached by our STEM programs each year.
Applications to Launch Your Meteorology Career, a record for the program.
States represented among this year’s Launch Your Meteorology Career students.
More than 15,000 visitors a year.
Chief Observer Matt Douglas, Deputy Chief Observer Amanda Joly, Chief Scientist Mike Iacono, and our observers took every reading, in every season.
We reconfigured the Mish Michaels Exhibit Hall as a flexible classroom for Weather Watching, Kite Making, Guided Hikes, and the Hilltop Temperature Trends Investigation. Book a field trip
Led by meteorologist Tim Kelley, students practiced observing and on-camera forecasting and visited the National Weather Service. About the program
Self-guided tours and a pilot of weekday public access opened the summit to more families, hikers, and school groups. Tour options
The former gift shop became Café 635, and Open Mic nights brought new audiences to the courtyard. Visit Café 635
A redesigned website and live webcams opened the summit to anyone. NPR and WBUR shared our seasonal observations nationally. Watch the webcams
Stewardship
In fiscal year 2026, the Observatory received $567,545 in total revenue, and individual donors provided nearly half of it. The rest came from our contract with the National Weather Service, Massachusetts state funding, tours, the gift shop and education programs, and the foundations and corporate partners who believe in our work. We are grateful to the National Weather Service, the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation, and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for their continuing partnership.
Our fiscal year 2027 operating budget of $716,002 sustains the daily observations, the education programs that bring students up the hill, and the care of a National Historic Landmark. We are closing the distance by growing the community of donors you just doubled, building membership, and deepening partnerships with foundations and companies. Our Form 990 and financial information are posted on our Financial Transparency page.
During the year, we adopted new bylaws and elected a new Board of Trustees, with dedicated committees for finance and audit, governance and nominations, and development. Three priorities guide the work ahead.
The people, instruments, and facilities behind an observation that cannot be taken again once it is missed.
More students, families, and visitors experiencing science on the summit, in our classrooms, and online.
Digitizing our handwritten logbooks so researchers, educators, and the public can put the full record to work.
None of my current or future career plans would have been possible without Blue Hill Observatory.
Thank you to everyone who gave this year in honor of Charlie Orloff’s 20 years of leadership, and to all who gave in memory of loved ones. Your gifts carry their names forward with the record.
Photo credits: Blue Hill Observatory & Science Center, C. Linehan. Back to Impact
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