MEASURING RAIN? BUT IT NEVER RAINS IN NEW MEXICO!

Yes, we hear that a lot. And it's true - most of the time. But sometimes it does rain, and occasionally it rains a lot! The map below shows a storm that occurred during the night of August 23/24, 2010. The colors in the background represent precipitation estimates from radar data; the blue bars represent measurements from individual rain gauges.

Over the area colored in red (approximately ten square miles), the storm produced in excess of two inches of precipitation in about one hour! A few miles to the East or West, hardly any precipitation was recorded. This example shows how much our weather differs locally, and why we are interested in as many rainfall observations as possible.

In April of 2001, SSCAFCA obtained federal funds under the FEMA Hazard Mitigation Grant Program to establish a precipitation monitoring system within SSCAFCA's jurisdiction. The Rainfall Event and Data System (READS) program consisted of a network of rain gauges, as well as stream gauges that measure runoff in selected SSCAFCA arroyos and channels.

In July of 2011, after almost ten years of program operation, SSCAFCA decided to join the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network, CoCoRaHS. CoCoRaHS is a non-profit, community-based network of volunteers, who measure precipitation nationwide.

HOW CAN I PARTICIPATE?

Information from your area is very important in tracking precipitation. The data you collect will be used by a variety of organizations such as SSCAFCA or the National Weather Service, but also by interested individuals in your community and throughout the United States.

If you'd like to participate, please contact Gerhard at , or simply sign up on the CoCoRaHS website: http://www.cocorahs.org