Written by NOAA - National Weather Service
Have you ever wondered how much rain fell during a recent thunderstorm? How about snowfall during a winter storm? If so, an important volunteer weather observing program needs your help!
The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow network, or CoCoRaHS, is looking for new volunteers across North Carolina. The grassroots effort is part of a growing national network of home-based and amateur weather spotters with a goal of providing a high-density precipitation network across the country.
CoCoRaHS came about as a result of a devastating flash flood that hit Fort Collins, Colorado, in July 1997. A local severe thunderstorm dumped over a foot of rain in several hours while other portions of the city had only modest rainfall. The ensuing flash flood caught many by surprise and caused $200 million in damages. CoCoRaHS was born in 1998 with the intent of doing a better job of mapping and reporting intense storms. As more volunteers participated, rain, hail, and snow maps were produced for every storm showing fascinating local patterns that were of great interest to scientists and the public. Recently, drought reporting has also become an important observation within the CoCoRaHS program across the nation. In fact, drought observations from CoCoRaHS are now being included in the National Integrated Drought Information System.
North Carolina became the twenty-first state to join the CoCoRaHS program in 2007, and by 2010, the CoCoRaHS network had reached all 50 states with nearly 10,000 daily observations. Through CoCoRaHS, thousands of volunteers, young and old, document the size, intensity, duration and patterns of rain, hail, and snow by taking simple measurements in their own backyards.
Volunteers may obtain an official rain gauge through the CoCoRaHS website (www.cocorahs.org) for about $42 plus shipping. Besides the need for an official 4-inch plastic rain gauge, volunteers are asked to review simple training modules online and submit their reports using the CoCoRaHS website or phone app. The process takes only five minutes a day, but the impact to the community is tenfold: by providing high-quality, accurate measurements, the observers are able to supplement existing networks and provide useful data to scientists, resource managers, decision makers and others.
How does one become a CoCoRaHS observer? Go to the CoCoRaHS website and click on the “Join CoCoRaHS” emblem on the upper right side of the website. After registering, take the simple online training, order your 4 inch rain gauge and start reporting!
