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Apr 7, 2008 11:33 am US/Central
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Meet The Human Farmer's Almanac
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) ―
A Pa. man with a unique gift and a love for the weather is also proving to be a tremendous inspiration.
Francis Jennings is often called the human Farmer's Almanac. He said his gift comes in part from being autistic.
"I always liked the numbers and the weather conditions," Jennings said modestly.
Friends and co-workers at Keystone Aerial Surveys said Francis is on top of the forecast regardless of the date.
"His grasp of the history of weather is astonishing," said Mary Potter of Keystone Aerial Surveys.
When asked what the weather was like on January 31, 1979, Jennings said, "What we had was, we had started off sunny, became cloudy and snowed during the afternoon and we had about 2.3 inches."
What about August 25, 1972?
"Ok, I believe that day we had mostly sunny and it was very hot. If I recall it was 96 that day."
With a check of the records, CBS Station KYW-TV in Philadelphia meteorologist Maria LaRosa confirmed there was indeed snow on January 31, 1979 and there was a high of 95 degrees on August 25, 1972.
Jennings said being autistic has led to his astonishing ability, despite some past struggles.
"I lived with autism most of my life and I had a hard time when I was younger," he said.
But Jennings' ability to work well with numbers eventually landed him his dream job at Keystone Aerial Surveys where he can utilize his abilities.
His philosophy to getting through life's hardships:
"Don't feel bad about it, just keep plugging away and never give up."
(© MMVIII, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)