Weather Observers of all ages are wanted to help study weather right in your backyard!!
Follow this quick link to see if any training sessions are scheduled for your area.
What is CoCoRaHS?
CoCoRaHS is an acronym for Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow Network. CoCoRaHS is a non-profit community based network of volunteers of all ages and backgrounds working together to measure precipitation. The network originated at Colorado State University in 1998 and has expanded to thousands of observers in over half of the United States. The NWS Northern Indiana office is helping to expand the CoCoRaHS network across Indiana, and eventually across Michigan beginning around July 1st, 2008. There are currently no plans for Ohio to join the network, but we hope that will happen sometime in the next few years.
Who can participate?
This is a community project. Everyone can help. The only requirements are an enthusiasm for watching and reporting weather conditions, a desire to learn more about how weather can affect our lives, a computer and internet connection to report your data, and an official 4 inch diameter rain gauge like the one pictured below. The ultimate goal of the program is to have one observer per square mile in urban areas and one observer every 36 square miles in rural areas. All observations from around the country can be viewed on the CoCoRaHS website and the data may be used by local media, engineers, insurance companies, emergency managers, and many others.
How does one join and become an observer?
Visit the CoCoRaHS home page and fill out an application. All new observers in Indiana must attend a training session, either a live session or a walk-in training session with a county coordinator. Please see the Indiana page on the CoCoRaHs site for more information. The Michigan page will be coming soon!
CoCoRaHS in Indiana is made possible by: The Indiana State Climate Office at Purdue University and the National Weather Service. CoCoRaHS in Michigan is a joint effort by the Michigan State Climate Office and the National Weather Service.
Where can I learn of new training dates in my area?
The NWS Northern Indiana will post CoCoRaHS training sessions for northern Indiana and Southwest Lower Michigan on our events calendar. For training outside of these areas, visit the CoCoRaHS page and click on your state. If you would like to schedule and host a training session for your area, or just want more information, please feel free to contact NWS Meteorologist Sam Lashley at Sam.Lashley@noaa.gov.
