More than 100 volunteer weather observers in Michigan are aiming to fill in the gaps between the state’s official weather reporting stations as part of a volunteer program that began this month.
Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network, or CoCoRaHS, is part of a partnership between MSU and the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Grand Rapids.
The program started at Colorado State University in 1998 after a flood in Fort Collins, Colo., led to an increased awareness of rainfall and need for more rain gauges, said George Wetzel, observation program leader for the National Weather Service in Grand Rapids.
The program exists in 35 states, and this is the first year Michigan has participated, Wetzel said.
Since the beginning of the month, Michigan went from having no volunteer weather observers to 130, Wetzel said.
Bob Suttle, National Weather Service specialist, said three or four Ingham County residents have signed up and he expects more people will volunteer as more people become aware of the program.
Kent County has the most volunteers of any other county in Michigan, with at least 40 volunteers, he said. Anyone with an interest in weather is encouraged to register online at CoCoRaHS.org, Wetzel said. The only tools required are a rain gauge and Internet access to make daily reports, he said.
“We’re working hand-in-hand with MSU to get this program off the ground in the state,” Wetzel said. “MSU got a grant to actually purchase rain gauges and then sell them back to the public at a very low cost, like 20 bucks or something like that.”
Wetzel said a rain gauge would typically cost $30 or more.
Jake Dunne, WLNS TV 6 meteorologist, said he lived in Colorado when the program first began and was one of the first volunteers.
“I was a meteorologist but I signed up as a regular citizen,” he said. “Since then the program has gotten very popular across the country.”
Dunne said volunteer weather observers help him and other meteorologists to make more accurate forecasts through verification.
“There are only so many official reporting stations and there’s obviously large holes between them,” he said. “This fills in those holes.”
A weather observer is someone who records the previous day’s high and low temperatures and snowfall or rainfall measurements depending on the time of year and where they live, and then reports those findings to the National Weather Service, Wetzel said.
This kind of effort helps to define climate and to develop daily forecasts, he said.
“(CoCoRaHS) will help to forecast flooding and help to monitor the drought situation a lot better,” Dunne said.
Support student media! Please consider donating to The State News and help fund the future of journalism.
