OK all you weather experts:
Here’s a chance to put your rain gauge to work to help NOAA and the National Weather Service with rainfall data they can use in real-time flood maps.
Britt Westergard, hydrologist for the National Ocean and Atmospheric Administration and the NWS, previewed the NWS’s flood inundation maps for supervisors’ Flood Committee Thursday.
Some of the maps are static, Ms. Westergard said, while others are interactive.
But daily rainfall maps are missing from Schoharie County because of one simple-to-solve reason:
No weather observers.
Anyone who’d like to change that can reach out to the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network at COCORAHS.org or contact Deanna Marks at Deanna.Marks@NOAA.gov or (518) 626-7547.
All it takes, Ms. Westergard said, is your own rain gauge and a few minutes a day.
According to the CoCoRaHS website, volunteers submit their observations using their website or app.
Observations are immediately available to the public via maps and data analysis tools; “scientists, resource managers, decision-makers, and others have come to rely on the high density, high quality measurements provided by CoCoRaHS observers.”
CoCoRaHS was created in the wake of a devastating flash flood that hit Fort Collins, Denver in 1997.
A very localized storm dumped more than a foot of rain in several hours, while other portions of the city had only modest rainfall.
Sound familiar?
The ensuring flood caught many by surprise, caused $200 million in damages, and resulted in five deaths.
CoCoRaHS was created a year later with the goal of doing a better job of mapping and reporting intense storms.
Additionally, in states “hail pads” are used to study hail storms.
CoCoRaHS became a nationwide volunteer network in 2010 and is now international.
Volunteers must use a high-capacity, four-inch diameter rain gauge and report their rainfall totals daily.
An application form and more information as well as information on online training are available on the CoCoRaHS website.