Volunteer Observation Programs
There are two all-volunteer observation programs available to interested
individuals or groups across the central Tennessee Valley. The first
is the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail,
and Snow (CoCoRaHS) Network, a national precipitation network
started and administered by the Colorado State Climatologist. CoCoRAHS
covers both Alabama and Tennessee. The second is the local NWS Huntsville
Backyard Observation Program.
A sample Backyard Observation Program site near
Collinsville in De Kalb County. Your site doesn't have to be fancy,
but it does need to be out away from trees and buildings!
If you have weather equipment in your back yard and are interested
in furnishing your data to the National Weather Service, we invite
you to join the NWS Huntsville Backyard Observation Program. Your
weather data can be of tremendous use to the National Weather Service
and to our customers and partners.
Existing Stations:
- CVLA1 - near Collinsville (De Kalb Co.)
- FAVT1 - Coldwater (Lincoln Co.)
- FYFA1 - Fyffe (De Kalb Co.)
- HRVA1 - Harvest Southeast (Madison Co.)
- HTLT1 - Huntland (Franklin Co. TN)
- IDRA1 - Ider (De Kalb Co.)
- MAFA1 - Madison (Madison Co.)
- NTCA1 - Florence (Lauderdale Co.)
- NTFT1 - near Estill Springs (Franklin Co. TN)
- UAHA1 - Univ. of Alabama in Huntsville (Madison Co.)
- UGVA1 - near Union Grove (Marshall Co.)
- XBTA1 - Monrovia (Madison Co.)
NEW Stations:
We are currently seeking observers via two methods:
Full Weather Stations
If you have your own weather station (reporting, at a minimum,
temperature and precipitation), you can submit your high, low, and
precipitation total daily to the National Weather Service via the
internet. (Note that we receive hourly data from many ‘backyard
weather stations’ through the Citizen Weather Observer Program
and the APRSWXNET…but this effort is for 24-hour daily data
for archival and comparison purposes.)
For your data to be included, your weather station must meet NWS
siting requirements (not up against your home, not on your roof,
etc.)
If you are interested, send
an email to our webmaster account with the following information:
- Name (required)
- Street Address (required)
- Email address (required)
- Description of the location of your weather equipment (required)
- Digital photos of the location of your weather equipment (required)
- Latitude / longitude (if you know it)
- Elevation (if you know it)
Rainfall-only Reporting Stations
We are seeking observers to provide daily rainfall totals to the
National Weather Service via the internet. We’ll even provide
the rain gauge for those who live in the following areas! We are
seeking observers in specific locations in our coverage area:
- Arab area (Marshall/Cullman Counties)
- near New Market/Plevna (far northeastern Madison County)
- Smith Lake area (Cullman County)
- southern/southeastern Colbert County
Observers in these locations would report their data daily at 7am
via internet.
If you are interested, send
an email to our webmaster account with the following information:
- Name (required)
- Street address (required)
- Email address (required)
- Description of the location where you will install the gauge
(required)
- Digital photos of the area where the gage will be installed
(if possible)
- Latitude / longitude (if you know it)
- Elevation (if you know it)
Backyard Observation Data
Our backyard observers and CoCoRAHS observers help us get a complete
picture of temperatures and precipitation across the Tennessee Valley.
We issue two reports on a daily basis that summarize the observations
that we have received.
CoCoRAHS Precipitation
Summary (LCO Product): A summary of precipitation reports
received through the CoCoRAHS Network.
Daily Temperature
and Precipitation Summary (OSO Product): A summary
of temperature and precipitation reports received through the COOP
and backyard observation networks.
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