October 15, 2007
Skywarn spotters have been a highly valuable asset to the
National Weather Service for many, many years by reporting severe weather to their local
office. Now, the general public can be even more helpful by reporting daily precipitation
amounts as well! This new national system of
observing and
reporting precipitation began in North Carolina on September 1st of this
year, and you can be
involved. It’s called the Community
Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network, or CoCoRaHS
for short. It’s a unique, non-profit,
community-based, network of individual and family volunteers of all ages and backgrounds,
who take daily measurements of rain, hail and snow in their backyards. CoCoRaHS is a fun activity for volunteers. If you have an interest in weather and would like
to help your local community, as well as scientists and others interested in
precipitation, then CoCoRaHS is for you. It’s
very easy, takes only a few minutes a day and gives you the chance to participate in real
“hands-on” science. Volunteers post
their observations on the CoCoRaHS website. The
observations are immediately available in map and table form for scientists and the public
to view. By providing high quality, accurate
measurements, the observers are able to supplement existing networks and provide many
useful results to scientists, resource managers, decision makers and other users. Your help is needed! To become a volunteer, or if you want more
information, simply go to: www.cocorahs.org.
The website for the National Weather Service in Newport/Morehead
City is your best source in central eastern North Carolina for weather information,
including live Doppler radar data. Go to www.weather.gov/mhx. To report severe weather to us, dial
1-800-889-6889. For Skywarn information, go
to www.mhxskywarn.org. You’ll find links to great training resources
like National Weather Service spotter materials you can print out in full color, a huge
list of spotter terms and much more.
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Skywarn
Training