Weather

Rain observers wanted; no-profit network looks to fill in the gaps

NOAA NWS Meteorologist Isha Renta teaching kids about rain measurements they can do at home.

We’ve all seen them --- isolated thunderstorms that dump a ton of rain over one location, but virtually nothing a couple of miles away, or even the next street over. It’s difficult for radar to accurately measure those localized amounts. This is where you come in, the valuable CoCoRaHS, the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network, observer!
CoCoRaHS is a nonprofit, national community-based network of volunteers working together to measure and map precipitation. It strives to provide the highest quality data for numerous applications.
When a rain, hail or snow event occurs, volunteers take precipitation measurements, which are recorded on the CoCoRaHS website. The data is then displayed and organized for users to analyze and apply to a plethora of situations. CoCoRaHS is used by a wide variety of people, including meteorologists, hydrologists, researchers, emergency managers, utility companies, farmers and residents.

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Scientists need your help measuring rainfall. It's fun, easy and provides hands-on educational opportunities for all ages. Just like increasing the number of pixels improves the resolution of an image, improving the network of observers paints a better picture of Florida’s variable precipitation patterns.
Your rain gauge data can not only help supplement radar data, but become an extremely useful data set of its own. By providing your daily observation, you help fill in a piece of the weather puzzle that affects a multitude of people across your area. Measuring precipitation in your own backyard is fun, easy and benefits many citizens.

Visit www.cocorahs.org to get started.

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