Daily Archives: March 17, 2025

Precipitation can widely vary over a region; consequently, local observations of precipitation are valuable weather observations. Contributing your personal observations via a community-based network of volunteers can help with weather and river forecasts.

One well known observation network is the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network, or CoCoRaHS (https://www.cocorahs.org). This is a group of volunteers working together to measure precipitation across the U.S., Canada, Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, Guam, and the Bahamas. CoCoRaHS began on June 17, 1998 and now has over 26,000 observers. The variability of precipitation is such that observers are always needed. Joining is easy at https://www.cocorahs.org/application.aspx. There are many observers in Wisconsin and the surrounding region. Once you begin to participate, it is interesting to see the measurements of other observers in your area. Continue reading →