Backyard meteorologist? Minnesota is looking for volunteers to help monitor rainfall.

Yahoo

09-03-2025

Organizers of the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network, the state's rainfall monitor volunteer program, are putting out a call for more volunteers to measure rain, hail and snow in their backyards.
The program, called CoCoRaHS for short, is coordinated by the State Climatology Office.
Data gathered by volunteers from around the state is invaluable to state climatologists as they work on drought monitoring, flood management and for verifying high rainfall totals, said Luigi Romolo, the state climatologist.
CoCoRaHS maps daily reports from more than 20,000 people nationwide. About 2,000 Minnesota residents participate, with about 800 to 1,200 regularly contributing data, Romolo said.
Rainfall and snowfall amounts can vary widely over a short distance, so a variety of reports is helpful in the same community or area, according to Romolo.
'We have stations all across the metro, but because of the spatial variability, the more stations we have, the more likely we are to understand how much rainfall we're actually getting,' he said. 'There are also lots of gaps in rural areas. We are trying to fill those gaps. Ideally, each year we would like to recruit at least two or three people from each county, but we could use at least 20 more just in northern Washington county and about 20 to 30 more in Dakota County.'
Volunteers are asked to use a standard 4-inch-diameter plastic rain gauge for official rainfall measurements; they can be found online for about $42, Romolo said.
Volunteers receive training on how to observe weather trends and how to submit their precipitation and weather-event reports; all training material is available online. Participants must have internet access to submit reports, he said.
To sign up or for more information, visit CoCoRaHS.org or contact Luigi Romolo at [e-mail].
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