To guess or not…
“How much rain and snow do you get there?” seems to be a common question people ask of each other. Some answer by simply guessing and throwing out a number. Others perhaps take the safe route and answer “a bunch” or “not much“. Many probably shrug their shoulders and say “beats me“.
Wouldn’t it be cool though if you could respond by saying:
“Well at my place we get, on average, 24.3 inches per year, with 60% falling as rain and 40% falling as snow (adding up to a whopping 116 inches of total snowfall). March is the snowiest month and July is the rainiest. Very little snow falls in January and very little rain falls in September.”
“Do not be angry with the rain; it simply does not know how to fall upwards.” – Vladimir Nabokov
To joke or criticize, or not…
How often have you heard “If you don’t like the weather, stick around a bit cuz it will change“. I hear it often living in Wyoming. One minute it can be warm and sunny. A bit later it can be cold and snowy. And a short, short bit after that it can be sunny again, but with hurricane force winds tousling your hair.
Commonly we laugh and respond to this familiar comment, usually with “No @#$%“. Then we joke about or criticize our local meteorologist for never getting their forecast right. Go figure…
“The nicest thing about the rain is that it always stops. Eventually.” – Eeyore
To be cool and supportive, or not…
So do you want to be cool and actually know how much rain and snow you get?
Do you want to help your local meteorologist make more accurate weather forecasts?
Then become a volunteer and join CoCoRaHS! And immediately give your self the honorary title of “Junior Hydrologist” or “Junior Meteorologist“. How much fun is THAT!
Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network
To learn more, head to the CoCoRaHS website. You can’t go wrong by joining thousands of others across our great land.
CoCoRaHS (pronounced KO-ko-rozz) is a grassroots volunteer network of backyard weather observers of all ages and backgrounds working together to measure and map precipitation (rain, hail and snow) in their local communities. By using low-cost measurement tools, stressing training and education, and utilizing an interactive Web-site, our aim is to provide the highest quality data for natural resource, education and research applications. The only requirements to join are an enthusiasm for watching and reporting weather conditions and a desire to learn more about how weather can affect and impact our lives.
Good luck and have fun!
Until the next time, ponder this…as you ponder joining the CoCoRaHS crowd!
“Some people walk in the rain; others just get wet.” – Roger Miller