National Weather Service seeking volunteers to measure precipitation

A farmer whose fields are wilting in a drought might wonder why the National Weather Service is reporting the Shoals received an inch of rain while his farm received none.

Likewise, a contractor unable to work on a construction project because of a deluge might wonder why the weather report lists the Shoals as having received no rain.

Jason Elliott, a meteorologist at the National Weather Service office in Huntsville, said the answer is simple: Reports are based on the amount of rain that fell at Northwest Alabama Regional Airport in Muscle Shoals.

"Rainfall is only the rain that occurred at the point where the gauge is located," he said.

The weather service, along with state climatologist John Christy, are seeking volunteers to help provide more accurate reports of rainfall across the Tennessee Valley.

"The more locations we have for measuring rainfall, the better," Elliott said. "In my opinion, we can never have enough points for measuring rainfall amounts."

Christy, a professor of atmospheric science at the University of Alabama in Huntsville, hopes to recruit 1,000 volunteers to help monitor and report rain, sleet, snow and hail in Alabama. The volunteers will become part of a national program known as the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network.

Christy said there is a shortage of reliable rainfall data across Alabama. He said in some counties, major storms can pass through without being recorded on the few rain gauges located there.

The only requirement to become a volunteer for the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network is to have an official rain gauge, which costs about $22 through the program, and access to the Internet for reporting precipitation amounts, Elliott said.

In some northern states, volunteers are required to purchase a special measuring device for snow and sleet. "Since snow and sleet are so rare in Alabama, just a ruler to measure the depth on a sidewalk or other hard, flat surface will be sufficient," Elliott said. "For measuring hail, we will get some of the volunteers together and build hail pads, which are basically Styrofoam wrapped in aluminum foil."

Basic training for the program and information on purchasing official rain gauges are available online at cocorahs.org.

Dennis Sherer can be reached at 740-5746 or dennis.sherer@timesdaily.com.