MEMPHIS, Tenn. — If you have been online recently you might have seen some of posts and images asking for your help.
This is all part of a yearly push by the National Weather Service to increase weather reports across the country.
Meteorologist Desiree Meadows is in charge of this initiative, called CoCoRaHS here in Memphis.
“CoCoRaHS stands for the Community Collaborative Rain, Snow, and Hail Network, and essentially its goal is to get as many ground troop observations of all types of precipitation across the entire United States.”
In Memphis, official rain and snow measurements are taken at a weather station at Memphis International Airport. This is great for having one consistent measurement but, on a day with scattered showers they might not see any rain, while your house does. CoCoRaHS helps record this rainfall.
When signing up to be a weather observer, you set up a rain gauge in your backyard. You can then send in reports to the National Weather Service by using the official CoCoRaHS app.
As seen in this rainfall map from 2011, all the blue numbers came from this method and can help make important decisions during inclement weather.
“Most times if we get a significant weather report from CoCoRaHS we are able to put that in our warnings if we have a Flash Flood Warning out. We’re also able to get a pinpointed location out to emergency officials if a water rescue is needed.”
This program is open to all ages here in the Mid-South and Desiree said this program has become a great way for families to teach their children about weather.
“… their kids love it. I get tons of pictures and its great to see the little ones get involved and it even sparks some future meteorologists in the making.”