An Inch Here. An Inch There

UffDa

UffDa

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Sep 11, 1999
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It wasn't too hot yesterday, so I decided to do a little shooting at the club range in Prescott. (It's about 25 miles from my home.) It rained a little on the way, but it was clear in Prescott. On the way home it rained a little. Barely enough to wet my windshield, but I saw some lightening in the distance. When I was within 2 miles of my home I thought, "What the hell happened here?" The streets were soaked and there were large puddles everywhere. My street was flooded and small rivers were running in the drainage ditches. It was obvious that we had a lot of rain. I checked my rain gauge in my back yard (An empty 5 gallon bucket) and there was 2 inches of water in it. It was in a clear area.

So, you may ask, why am I writing this. I checked the local weather stations and they showed .07 to .38 inches. :confused: My understanding is that an inch of rain is the same whether is falls on an inch or an acre. My 5 gallon bucket should be as accurate as any rain gauge. The closest "official" weather station is only about a mile away.

Any ideas?
 
The key criteria for rain gauges is that they have a flat bottom and square sides (or that it is calibrated to accommodate any non-idealism in the shape). Your bucket is probably pretty good for up to a few inches whereafter the sloped sides will give inaccurate readings.

A typical tin can from food works great. The sort of low, shallow cans used for tuna fish are perfect. This is a very handy thing to use when watering your lawn.

Keep in mind that rain can be very localized. The "official" readings at the specific stations don't often tell the real story of any one storm. They're really intended to give consistency year-to-year so that readings can be tracked over time.
 
Having worked construction for many years, I can tell you that rain is often very localized. I never call off a job after a rain without first visiting the site. And often as not, if one site is too wet to work, another one a few miles away is not. I keep guages (calibrated glass tubes on tall steel stakes) at home and on all of my job sites. I find it handy to remind customers who complain of delays just how much rain fell in their yard while we were building their swimming pool. 14" is a record (ten day sample on one job site). NOAAH records (mostly gathered at area airports here) never jive with my own very localized observations, neither for rain nor temperatures.
 
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