Denver weather: Here’s how this group helps report rain, snow totals

DENVER (KDVR) — If you’ve ever looked at rain or snow totals after a big storm, you may wonder where exactly those numbers come from. You may have even wondered why your neighborhood or city didn’t have any data listed for it.

When it snows, FOX31 takes the data directly from the National Weather Service, which takes measurements from trained spotters and weather stations.

However, the NWS does not typically report rainfall totals the same way it reports snow totals. FOX31 will use different data points to tally up rain totals after a big storm , including those given by the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) in its rain total articles.

The organization was started after a devastating flood in Fort Collins in the late 1990s that killed five people. According to the organization, heavy rainfall had not been reported to the NWS, and an opportunity to provide an early warning of the flood was missed.

The aim of the organization is to provide high-quality storm data that can be looked at and used by anyone from forecasters crafting severe weather warnings “to neighbors comparing how much rain fell in their backyards,” according to the organization.

How to join

According to the organization, anyone can join.

All that is needed is a high-capacity 4-inch diameter rain gauge. It has to be a manual rain gauge, as the organization will not accept readings from automatic ones for accuracy, among other reasons.

The organization has a list of approved gauges . These can cost anywhere from around $40 to much more, depending on the type of gauge.

There is also training required for the program. This can be done online or in person at training sessions.

After this, whenever there is rain, hail or snow, volunteers will take measurements from as many locations as possible and report it to the organization through their website.

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