Haines Science Center and the National Weather Service/NOAA are looking for “citizen scientists” of all ages to help map the rain and snowfall in our little corner of paradise! 1) fill out the form below, 2) HSC will order a rain gauge for you, 3) take measurements, 4) submit data online… EASY!
CoCoRaHS (pronounced KO-ko-rozz) is an acronym for the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network. CoCoRaHS is a unique, non-profit, community-based network of volunteers of all ages and backgrounds working together to measure and map precipitation (rain, hail and snow). 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.
CoCoRaHS dovetails nicely with the Science Center’s SHAMN project which aims to better understand how this same corner or paradise is handling all the precipitation being thrown this way. Working with NWS, DGGS, geologists and hydrologists in the state, we can better understand the hows and whys of our recent and future landslides. SHAMN is a borough-wide network of weather and ground water sensors that collect data about the various areas around the townsite, Beach Road, Lutak Hwy, Lutak Spur, Haines Hwy, slump, etc. The combination of weather data from CoCoRaHS and the SHAMN sensors work together to tell us how much rain we got, and how much water is being held in the earth.
The duties to participate in CoCoRaHS are simple: you just have to measure how much rain falls every day. If there is no rain, then it’s simple! If there is, you just have to read the number and submit it on a website. Your data gets added to thousands of other reports every day across the country. Your data helps enhance the accuracy of professional meteorologists and allows us to know why certain areas here in Haines receive more rain than others.
If you would like to learn even more about our local weather by participating in CoCoRaHS, please fill out the form below. If you already have a weather station, please let us know. HSC will be ordering a case of rain gauges here soon, so please let us know ASAP so we can get you one too. They are $30 each. (Note: the small little garden variety of rain gauges are NOT very accurate … these 4″ wide ones are much better.)