Volunteers sought to measure rain, hail and snow

From YubaNet.com

Regional
Volunteers sought to measure rain, hail and snow
Author: Desert Research Institute
Published on Oct 2, 2008 - 10:11:30 AM

RENO, Oct. 1, 2008 - Laura Edwards, Jim Ashby and Michelle Breckner from the Western Regional Climate Center at DRI will begin collaborating with the new weather observation network in California beginning today. Volunteer measurements of statewide rain, hail, and snow are part of a nationwide internet-based weather network.

"This is a great opportunity for people to get involved in weather and climate observation from their homes and backyards," said Edwards, an assistant research climatologist at DRI. "The National Weather Service is located here near the DRI campus in Reno and the information we receive from volunteer weather watchers is invaluable and adds to our efforts in understanding regional weather. This effort also extends into Las Vegas."

CoCoRaHS, the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network was developed in Ft. Collins, Colorado. California is the 36th state to join the network which has more than 11,000 volunteers currently. The non-profit CoCoRaHS network is sponsored in part by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the National Weather Service and other individual contributors and organizations, including Cooperative Extension. The long-term goal of CoCoRaHS is ultimately to recruit one volunteer observer per square mile in urban areas and one volunteer observer per 36 square miles in rural areas for all 50 states.

Michael Anderson, State Climatologist with the California Department of Water Resources, is looking for much-needed volunteers. He wants to get as many rain gauges as possible in backyards all around the state to help forecasters and climatologists map California's diverse rain patterns. "There is no substitute for accurate, local measurement of the weather. This data will help not only short time-scale events like storms and floods, but also serve as an added tool for recording and analyzing climate change.

"Home-based and amateur rain spotters take daily rainfall measurements and report them to the CoCoRaHS website, www.cocorahs.org. Each volunteer is asked to read the rain gauge each day at the same time and upload the measurement to the website. The result is more precise information about where rain, snow and hail falls and in what amount.

Anderson said that anyone with an interest in weather and access to the Internet can sign up. The only equipment needed is a cylindrical rain gauge available from the network for $23 plus shipping. Simple training is available at http://www.cocorahs.org.