Now you can let the National Weather Service know how much rain,
hail, or snow you measured in your backyard by joining the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network - CoCoRaHS. This new program will help meteorologists and researchers study the variability of precipitation across not only Southeast Mississippi...Southwest Alabama and Northwest Florida, but the entire country. The accumulated data will be available to anyone with a use or interest in precipitation data.
How did CoCoRaHS get started?
CoCoRaHS started in Fort Collins, Colorado in 1998 after a devastating flood. Researchers went back to look at the precipitation data that led to the flood and found that the rainfall had missed all the official gages! The Colorado State Climatologist, Nolan Doeskin, developed a new volunteer observing network to fill the gaps between official gages called CoCoRaHS. The network continues to spread across the United States and is available to everyone living in Mississippi...Alabama and Florida.
How can I sign up?
Please visit the CoCoRaHS web site at http://www.cocorahs.org to learn more about the program and register your backyard or schoolyard as an official reporting site. Once you register and begin to report, your rainfall observations will become part of the record as well as being plotted on maps of your county and state maps of Mississippi...Alabama and Florida. You can view the maps and see how your observation fits in with your neighbors involved in CoCoRaHS across the country. You are also strongly encouraged to take the online training located on the CoCoRaHS website that will show you proper siting techniques along with other information about CoCoRaHS. If you have any questions, please contact Jack Cullen at the National Weather Service office in Mobile at 251-633-6443.