CoCoRaHS

If You Love To Keep Track Of The Weather....Read On

North Carolina became a member of the CoCoRaHS program in September 2007. South Carolina became a member of CoCoRaHS in March 2008.

The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) is a non-profit network of volunteer weather observers that measure and report precipitation amounts. If you would like to join and play an active role in meteorological reporting and research using inexpensive equipment in your own backyard, then CoCoRaHS is for you!

Did you know many of the rainfall totals we collected after Hurricane Florence came through the CoCoRaHs program? In fact, the record rainfall measured during Florence was from a CoCoRaHs volunteer observer, a staggering 35.93” near Elizabethtown that also set the NC state tropical cyclone rainfall record. A CoCoRaHs observer in Loris, SC measured 23.63” during Florence, which became the new SC state tropical cyclone rainfall record. There are currently 206 active CoCoRaHs observers in the Wilmington, NC NWS county warning area. However, several of our counties, including Marion SC and Bladen NC, only have a few active observers each.

Where did the CoCoRaHS Network originate?

The network originated with the Colorado Climate Center at Colorado State University in 1998 thanks in part to the Fort Collins flood a year prior. In the years since, CoCoRaHS has expanded rapidly with over 6,500+ observers in twenty-six states.

Who can participate?

This is a community project. Everyone can help, young, old, and in-between. The only requirements are an enthusiasm for watching and reporting weather conditions and a desire to learn more about how weather can effect and impact our lives.

What will our volunteer observers be doing?

Each time a rain, hail or snow storm crosses your area, volunteers take measurements of precipitation from as many locations as possible (see equipment). These precipitation reports are then recorded on our Web site CoCoRaHS. The data are then displayed and organized for many of our end users to analyze and apply to daily situations ranging from water resource analysis and severe storm warnings to neighbors comparing how much rain fell in their backyards. Click here to see the daily map for North Carolina. And click here for the daily map of South Carolina.

Who uses CoCoRaHS?

CoCoRaHS is used by a wide variety of organizations and individuals. The National Weather Service, other meteorologists, hydrologists, emergency managers, city utilities (water supply, water conservation, storm water), insurance adjusters, USDA, engineers, mosquito control, ranchers and farmers, outdoor & recreation interests, teachers, students, and neighbors in the community are just some examples of those who visit our Web site and use our data.

What benefits are there in volunteering?

One of the neat things about participating in this network is coming away with the feeling that you have made an important contribution that helps others. By providing your daily observation, you help to fill in a piece of the weather puzzle that affects many across your area in one way or another. You also will have the chance to make some new friends as you do something important and learn some new things along the way. In some areas, activities are organized for network participants including training sessions, field trips, special speakers, picnics, pot-luck dinners, and photography contests just to name a few.

How can I sign up?

Just click here to sign up as a CoCoRaHS Volunteer Observer or download a .pdf version of our application and return it as soon as possible. If you have any questions please contact Tim Armstrong at timothy.armstrong@noaa.gov.