Vernon Preston will head Pocatello weather service

Vernon Preston has been named meteorologist-in-charge of the National Weather Service in Pocatello, Idaho, according to Grant Cooper, director of the NOAA’s National Weather Service Western Region.

Preston, who was raised in Rosalia, has served eastern Idaho since 1998 as the warning and coordination meteorologist at the Pocatello office. Prior to coming to Idaho, he worked at the National Weather Service’s Western Region headquarters helping to install Doppler Radar and advance computer systems across the western United States.

Preston earned a bachelor’s degree in meteorology and earth sciences from the University of Northern Colorado in 1989.

Preston will head weather forecast operations at Pocatello and supervise 21 employees that serve a half million residents residing in central and southeast Idaho. The forecast office is responsible for public, aviation and water resource forecasts and weather support for management agencies.

The son of David and Ruth Mary Preston of Rosalia, he was valedictorian of the 1984 class of Rosalia High School.

He is married to the former Sarah Nereim, also a Rosalia High School graduate. She is the daughter of the Rev. Stewart and Sandra Nereim. The Rev. Nereium was a former pastor of the Rosalia Assembly of God Church. They are now retired and residing in Spokane.