National Weather Service United States Department of Commerce

Back-to-Back Pacific Storms to Impact the West Coast; Heavy Snow in the Central Appalachians

Back-to-back powerful Pacific storm systems to impact the Pacific Northwest and northern California through the end of this week with heavy rain, flooding, strong winds, and higher elevation mountain snow. A strong, long-duration atmospheric river will accompany the Pacific storms, bringing excessive rainfall and flash flooding to southwest Oregon and northwest California through the week. Read More >

 

We need You!  Join the CoCoRaHS precipitation observing team! 

Central and Western Wyoming!

What is CoCoRaHS?

The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, & Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) is a nationwide volunteer reporting network that provides precipitation measurements for natural resource, education and research applications. The National Weather Service uses CoCoRaHS precipitation data daily in river forecast models, flood and drought forecasts, and precipitation and snowfall maps and tables.

CoCoRaHS (pronounced co-co-raws) allows observers to share their precipitation measurements via the Internet, which can be used by agencies who need accurate, real-time precipitation data for various purposes. The only equipment needed to join CoCoRaHS is a standard 4" diameter plastic rain gauge and access to the Internet to enter reports. Observers can report precipitation daily or only on days when they are able to take measurements. CoCoRaHS observers can also send real-time severe weather reports to the National Weather Service (NWS); including hail size, flooding, storm damage, and excessive rainfall, which greatly assist meteorologists in determining the impact of storms on local communities.

Due to Wyoming's expansiveness, the CoCoRaHS network is an invaluable tool for the NWS and other state and federal agencies to help fill-in the gaps due to a lack of available observation sites. This shortfall is mitigated by volunteers from across the state. Precipitation, in both winter and summer, can have wide ranging values. The more people reporting these data can greatly assist the NWS in providing better forecasts and warnings. Volunteers are welcome from across the state, and we always need more people to join.

This is a community project. Everyone can help: young, old and in-between! Click here to sign up as a CoCoRaHS Volunteer Observer.


For additional information on the CoCoRaHS program, to view CoCoRaHS data, or to join the CoCoRaHS team, visit the CoCoRaHS web site at http://www.cocorahs.org/  For additional videos, visit the CoCoRaHS YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/user/cocorahs. You may also contact the CoCoRaHS Regional Coordinator for central and western Wyoming, Geri Swanson at 307-857-3898 or geri.swanson@noaa.gov.

 

Brief CoCoRaHS Introduction video Short Introduction to CoCoRaHS video
   
Getting Started training video New To CoCoRaHS? Need a refresher on Observing?
   
How to measure snowfall training video How to measure rain training video