By SALINA POST
Not seeing precipitation totals from your area after a rain or snow event? Consider becoming a CoCoRaHS volunteer.
"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 website, our aim is to provide the highest quality data for natural resource, education and research applications," the organization noted on its website.
CoCoRaHS is in the final days of its big March volunteer recruiting event. In a good-natured competition, the organization's website has a state scoreboard that is updated hourly with the number of new volunteers in each state. As this story is being written, Kansas is tied with Wyoming for sixth place.
After rain, hail, or snow storms, CoCoRaHS volunteers take precipitation measurements. Those totals are then recorded on the CoCoRaHS website (Kansas reporting).
The precipitation totals are used by various organizations and individuals, including the National Weather Service, other meteorologists, hydrologists, emergency managers, insurance adjusters, farmers and ranchers, and, of course, Salina Post.
For more information about CoCoRaHS and its March recruiting event or to sign up as a CoCoRaHS volunteer, click here.