The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) is set to begin a major recruitment and expansion drive into Scioto County and surrounding areas. CoCoRaHS is an extremely valuable network of volunteer weather observers. Attendees to the upcoming training session will learn how to report daily rain and snow totals in addition to submitting hail and intense precipitation observations. The project’s website at www.cocorahs.org provides information on the project and free access to the data collected.

CoCoRaHS began in Ohio during February 2009 and now has more than 227 observers from all parts of the Buckeye State. The CoCoRaHS network has been a valuable asset in monitoring precipitation and climate.

Recent repeated flood events during 2011 highlighted the importance of having a dense network of well-trained rainfall and snowfall observers in the Scioto County area. While there have been some observing stations in the area, there is currently no method for measuring water content in the snowpack. The efforts to monitor flood potential in the area will be greatly enhanced by adding enthusiastic and well-trained volunteers.

In support of this expansion effort, the state and regional CoCoRaHS coordinators from the National Weather Service will hold a training session on Monday, April 23, at 6:30 p.m. in the first floor conference room of the Southern Ohio Medical Center East Campus Gibson Building. This facility is at 2201 25th St., Portsmouth. The hands-on session, lasting around one hour, will teach observers how to accurately set up and read the standard CoCoRaHS rain gauges and report the data.

Attendance at the April 23 session is free, and open to any interested area resident. Volunteers should contact Julie Reed or Ashley Novak at the National Weather Service in Wilmington.

CoCoRaHS began in 1998 in Colorado in response to flooding that claimed five lives and caused more than $100 million in damage. The network now encompasses all 50 states and is expanding into Canada. The Ohio project represents a cooperative effort between the National Weather Service and the State Climatologist at Ohio State University.

Source: Kim Carver