Observatory under the National Meteorological Office
Observatory came under the control of the national Meteorological
Office in May 1943.
The workforce peaked in 1947 with a station chief, four meteorologists,
a cook, a cleaning woman and a part-time secretary, everybody
living in with their partners and children. The observatory
was overcrowded, so a modest building was built in Le Vigan
to house the families.
Over the years, conditions improved, even if the Observatory
was regularly cut off in winter ; the snow-plough only started
coming up regularly in 1955. With improved radio balloons
and new means of measurement (satellites and radars), the
Meteorological Office administration starting losing interest
in high altitude stations. Mont Ventoux shut down in 1968.
The future of the observatory seemed grim, and it need all
Christian Proust's determination, working alone for 18 months
from 1972 to early 1974 and sparing no effort to convince
the local authorities that the Aigoual Observatory should
survive. But his efforts were not in vain, for in 1974 the
meteorologist Pierre Moureau was appointed and Alfred Puech
was made responsible for the upkeep ; an excellent odd job
man who started the complete restoration of the building.
A stay of execution seems to have been won...