CoCoRaHS - volunteer precipitation organization

[SouthWestOhio]

A friend recommended this web site toady. They collect precip amounts from volunteers across the country (and Manitoba) . Their precip map updates automatically when amounts are reported. Fills in the gap between the official airport reporting sites and provides actuals instead of radar estimates. 

Has anyone else heard of this before?

http://www.cocorahs.org/

[Jim Meade / Iowa City]

Elwynn Taylor recommends this site for people who want to be part of a weather reporting netework.  The organization wants you to use a special rain gauge (which I have) which is quite accurate.  They don't trust the automatic type.  

Here is the rain gauge.

http://www.cocorahs.org/Content.aspx?page=measurerain

It costs about $35 by the time you get it shipped.

I am not a member and have no personal knowleddge of their operation.  It would have the potential to add a lot of insight to weather reports, as they would be ther rain gauges from individual people.

It would not be a bad idea if we all posted rainfall amount but I doubt if we'd get that done.  But if we did, it might help fill in the blanks and add some clarity to weather reports.

Many weather reports are from airports and cities - not from the location of the fields.

[SouthWestOhio]

It is amazing how many are reporting daily to this site. The dot map shows the actual reporting locations.

I know what you mean about the differences between a few miles. We are 8 miles west of Dayton International and the monthly farm total here varies from their total quite often by 2" or more.

[Shaggy98]

That is the very exact gauge that I have. Well I've got several of them and they are quit accurate. They will measure down to the .01" increment which is also very easy to read.

[Wind · Accepted solution]

What I like about it is that I can go back and see how much precipitation fell on my farm last month, year or what ever time period I punch in.  It keeps track of my rain fall and computes the totals.  As Jim said, the special gauges are very accurate.  I does take a little time to check and then record the total.  As a weather watcher I find it a worth while volunteer organization.  I can also spy on other rain gauges around the country and get a feel for the weather patterns and so forth.

Have been a volunteer for 6 years.

[Hobbyfarmer]

That guage is the one I use here. I'm not part of the system but love the guage. They cost about $35 delivered.

SWO... Dennis 1 over on agweb has been one of their reporters for years.

[SouthWestOhio]

Making the daily report seems a bit daunting but looking at my own wall calendar with each rainfall on it means I am probably already in the game. They have a goal of attaining a reporter for every 36 square miles (about the size of a normal township). It will take a lot more volunteers to reach that goal but they are well on their way.

[SouthWestOhio]

I was looking through the blog on their site and there are some wonderful discussions of a wide variety of weather phenomena. Thought I would share this one. We know hail can be heavy in one part of a field and none on the other side. Here is an aerial view of a recent hail accumulation on the ground near Calgary. You can really see how tight the swath of hail can be.
http://cocorahs.blogspot.com/2013/07/spectacular-hail-storm-near-calgary.html

[basset&co]

as a "member of the team", it is a blast to be able to check in and see more specific locations rain/snow/hail reports...

fun to call hobby or ecin and tell then it's time to quite the dfa routine, because their neighbors only received X amount,

so they could be in the field spending money on chemical etc.   😉    ( aka Dennis1)