Texas has joined a new network of rainfall observers and wants your help. CoCoRaHS, the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow network, is a growing group of volunteers who measure and report precipitation in their region from their home and business computers. CoCoRaHS uses the Internet to gather and share the collected data, mapping precipitation amounts in fine detail.

CoCoRaHS started in Fort Collins, Colo., in the wake of a devastating flood in 1997. During this storm, the existing network of gauges failed to capture the intensity and extent of an extreme rain. The Colorado Climate Center performed a post-storm survey and appealed to the public for reports about local rainfall to help explain the storm’s devastation. The public responded with more than 300 reports, providing a detailed map of the storm’s rainfall pattern and intensity. In the coming months, Colorado began a coordinated effort to recruit, equip and train volunteers to accurately measure and report precipitation, including data about hail and snow as well as rain.

The CoCoRaHS network is now spreading across the country. Almost half the states in the nation belong to the network, and membership of three more states are pending. In addition to Texas, a swath of states in the Midwest and the East Coast also belong to the network. CoCoRaHS has come to Texas and volunteers hope that it will help fill the many gaps in precipitation reporting across this large state. Data from CoCoRaHS is used by meteorologists, hydrologists, emergency operations managers, farmers and ranchers, and students and teachers. The data helps everyone better understand the distribution, intensity and duration of precipitation across their area. The network is sponsored by several public entities, including the National Weather Service and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association.

CoCoRaHS is open to anyone who wants to participate. All you need is an open space to measure precipitation, access to the Internet, a precise 11-inch rain gauge and a commitment to collect accurate data. Training is available online and through occasional training seminars. Observers will learn how to accurately measure rain, snow and the size of hail stones. Each volunteer is assigned a unique station number and ID based on his location.

“You will provide a great service to your community by allowing your friends, neighbors, scientists (including the National Weather Service offices), and others to see how daily precipitation has covered the Lone Star State,” said Troy Kimmel, Austin meteorologist and Texas state coordinator of the CoCoRaHS network.

Daily measurements are entered into the Internet network and immediately appear on CoCoRaHS maps and tables. Historical data is stored and available on the CoCoRaHS Web site.

Kimmel invited Texans to participate in the network, stressing the importance of water to the future of Texans. “Over the next 100 years, water is going to be one of the biggest issues than Texans will face. How better than to have this grassroots effort, on the part of citizens of our state, to report precipitation amounts on a daily basis?” he said.

To find out more information or to become an observer, check out the CoCoRahs Web site at http://www.cocorahs.org.

Bob Rose, LCRA meterologist, shows you what a proper 11-inch rain gauge, used to measure rain and snow, looks like.