| Association of American Weather Observers (2005) | |
| Full Name: | Association of American Weather Observers |
| Abbreviation: | AAWO |
| Purpose: | Increase public awareness of extreme weather and share stories of it |
| Main Organ: | American Weather Observer (newsletter) |
| Association of American Weather Observers (1983) | |
| Full Name: | Association of American Weather Observers |
| Abbreviation: | AAWO |
| Founding Location: | Westwood, New Jersey, US |
| Purpose: | Increase public awareness of extreme weather and share stories of it |
| Main Organ: | American Weather Observer (newspaper owned by Belvidere Republican) |
The Association of American Weather Observers was a group of amateur weather observers from around the United States. Their aim was to educate the public on weather awareness and to simply share stories among themselves on recent extreme weather that they viewed at their location.
The AAWO originally began in 1983 in Westwood, New Jersey as a group of weather enthusiasts came together in October of that year to create the organization. This iteration disbanded in 1993 due to conflicts of interests. In 2005, a new organization under the same name was created. Unlike the first, the new AAWO had yet to create a President and Board of directors. The AAWO that was established in 1983 and ended in 1993 is in no way affiliated with nor associated with the later organization that was established in 2005. However, some who were prominent members of the first AAWO had shown support for the new surge in bringing back the organization.
When the AAWO began in 1983, their motto was "Education, Communication, Cooperation" and opened the door for amateur weather observers from all over the United States to communicate with each other via the American Weather Observer newspaper publication. Before the AAWO there was no nationally recognized organization for the amateur weather hobbyist to share stories and observational data among each other. The group not only had individual memberships, but also had a lengthy list of affiliate organizations that were mostly local or regional groups from within the U.S.. The restart of the AAWO in 2005 had the same basic plans as the old group had in 1983. One of the differences between the group created in 1983 versus 2005 is, in 2005, the American Weather Observer publication was owned and operated by the AAWO, where the publication created in 1984 was a separate entity owned by the Belvidere Republican in Belvidere, Illinois, and only affiliated themselves with the AAWO organization created in 1983 as the newspapers official network.
The American Weather Observer was a newsletter publication presented by the Association of American Weather Observers(AAWO).
Each issue had articles pertaining to significant weather events and was also a communications forum for the AAWO membership. The newsletter was mailed out in paperback format and was available on line at their web site in Adobe Acrobat format.