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Community Weather Involvement Program (CWIP)
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Saved CWIP Reports in Tabular Form
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CWIP Reports are for the previous days information. (Ex. A report for October 31st would show the highs from the 30th, lows from the morning of the 31st, and precipitation from 7am on the 30th through 7 am on the 31st.)
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Graphical Maps of CWIP Data
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VOLUNTEER WEATHER OBSERVATION REPORT NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE SPRINGFIELD MO 929 AM CDT SAT MAY 9 2009 MAX MIN COUNTY LOCATION TEMP TEMP PRECIP SIGNIFICANT WEATHER BARRY ROARING RIVER SP 78 57 0.95 FEW TREES BLOWN DOWN AROUND 8 AM 5/8/09. BENTON EDWARDS 6W 82 59 1.32 BARTON LAMAR 6N 78 54 2.94 CRAWFORD FARLINGTON 3.59 DOUGLAS AVA 76 63 0.59 MEASURED 75 MPH WIND GUST AT 840 AM HOWELL WEST PLAINS 5SW 75 57 0.80 JASPER SARCOXIE 1W 78 59 0.68 TREES/POWER POLES DOWN - 7 AM LACLEDE 1 SE MORGAN 77 57 1.10 MORGAN LAURIE 4W 0.61 MORGAN GRAVOIS MILLS 76 51 4.00 NEWTON NEOSHO 5W 78 57 0.00 OZARK WASOLA 3S 0.35 OZARK NOBLE 1S 71 56 0.20 SHANNON EMINENCE 20NW 0.92 ST. CLAIR LOWRY CITY 5E 79 54 3.80 STONE CRANE 4N 78 54 0.44 STONE KIMBERLING CITY 5NW 0.67 TEXAS ROBY 84 58 2.00 WEBSTER NIANGUA 77 57 0.76 WEBSTER SEYMOUR 1N 1.10
About CWIP
MISSION: To develop a dense network of volunteer observers who will provide daily or real- time reports of incremental rainfall, snow amounts, freezing rain, flooding, storm damage reports and assessment, dense fog, and, high/lo temperatures.
GOAL: To provide the most accurate and timely county/community level hydrometeorological forecasts and warnings to our Customers.
We have nearly 100 volunteer weather observers in the 37 counties in southwest and south central Missouri and southeast Kansas that make up our County Warning Area.
One of the most important goals of the CWIP program is to obtain real time severe weather reports during a severe weather event. The development of the CWIP volunteer observer network has greatly increased the density of weather observers, especially in rural areas. Because most of the CWIP observers already have an interest in the weather, many are willing to be contacted at any time, including the middle of the night when it is especially hard to obtain real time reports. This greatly increases nighttime storm information and verification.
Routine Daily Uses of CWIP Reports
One of the main office goals for uses of the CWIP data is to more tightly integrate the data into the temperature and precipitation verification program. CWIP data combined with data from ASOS and NWS Cooperative Observer sites, will allow our office to greatly improve our forecast services to the public.
A. Temperature
Incoming temperature data for each day is checked before entered into our CWIP database. The data is checked with surrounding airport observations, and any "sore thumb" readings are usually flagged and discounted if there is not enough sound evidence to support it. A 5 to 7 degree threshold is generally allowed for high and low temperatures when compared against ASOS or an official observation station. This large threshold is needed because of the varying topography within the NWSO Springfield CWA. If a reported temperature is flagged for an error, the error is noted and a courtesy call may be made to see why the report may be in error and to see what can be done to alleviate the problem.
B. Precipitation
A 24-hour rainfall (7 am - 7 am) is also reported each morning from the CWIP observers. In addition, if an observer receives more than 1 inch of rain they can call in that report anytime. Quality control of the precipitation reports involves comparing the data against the Storm Total Precipitation, Three Hourly Precipitation, and One Hour Precipitation products derived from the WSR-88D radar. If a substantial amount of rain fell within our CWA, usually an inch or more, the Storm Total Precipitation product is printed out by the radar operator. NWS Cooperative Observers in close proximity to the CWIP observers are another good source in verifying amounts.
The Springfield NWS office has transitioned our volunteer observing program to the CoCoRaHS project and is no longer adding to the corp of CWIP observers. Our CWIP observers continue to report weather conditions across the Ozarks to aid the NWS in forecasting and verification purposes. If you would like to report weather information to the NWS office in Springfield. Please become a member of CoCoRaHS.
What is CoCoRaHS??
CoCoRaHS is an acronym for the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network. CoCoRaHS is a unique, non-profit, community-based network of volunteers of all ages and backgrounds working together to measure and map precipitation (rain, hail and snow). By using low-cost measurement tools, stressing training and education, and utilizing an interactive Web-site, our aim is to provide the highest quality data for natural resource, education and research applications. We currently operate in many states across the country. If we are not in your state please drop us a line and let us know that you have an interest in participating. This helps us know where a desire exists for the network and where to focus our future expansion efforts.
Download the CoCoRaHS brochure as a PDF. (2.2 MB)
CoCoRaHS Wanted Flyer PDF (128 KB)
For more information about CoCoRaHS go to http://www.cocorahs.org/Content.aspx?page=aboutus
Each quarter a CWIP volunteer observer is recognized by this office by being presented with the CWIP of the Quarter award. The CWIP of the Quarter is chosen from among those CWIP volunteer observers that reported frequently during the quarter. Also taken into consideration are severe weather reports, flood reports, and additional information provided to the office to aid in our verification efforts.
The individual chosen as the CWIP of the Quarter is presented with a Certificate of Appreciation, a Snow Book or other award and a press release is issued by the National Weather Service to the individuals local paper.
