Watches, Warnings & Advisories for Sunflower Co.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

Rainfall Roundup from 1/29/13 storms

A few of our readers have expressed an interest in rainfall totals from significant storm systems that affect our area.

The data below was gathered from stations participating in the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, & Snow Network (CoCoRaHS), and National Weather Service observation stations at the airports in Greenwood and Greenville.

CoCoRaHS Stations
MS-WS-1, 3.3mi ENE of Leland: 2.28"
MS-BV-1, 0.1mi WSW of Shaw: 1.52"
MS-BV-2, 0.1mi NNW of Duncan: 2.67"
MS-SF-1, 1.1mi NE of Indianola: 0.87"
MS-CR-1, 4.8mi WNW of Vaiden: 1.36"

NWS Observation Station at Greenville (rainfall between 7:00am 1/29 and 7:00am 1/30): 1.68"

NWS Observation Station at Greenwood (rainfall between 7:00am 1/29 and 7:00am 1/30): 0.85"

Meteorologists and hydrologists with the National Weather Service utilize rainfall data to validate radar algorithms, and to provide for more accurate flood forecasts.  Having good, accurate data is critical to their calculations.

The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, & Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) is comprised of volunteer observers around the nation who, using standardized rain gauges, record and report daily precipitation amounts.  One goal of the CoCoRaHS Network is to have at least one observer per square mile in urban areas/cities, and at least one per thirty six square-mile area in rural areas.  Currently, there are only two CoCoRaHS observers in Bolivar County, two in Washington County, one in Sunflower County, and one in Carroll County.  Let me encourage you to join the CoCoRaHS network.  One of my meteorologist friends at NWS Jackson once told me that the one thing a forecaster will never turn down is more data!

Reading and reporting daily rainfall takes about five minutes of your morning routine.  Visit www.cocorahs.org for more information on the program and how to order your CoCoRaHS rainfall gauge.

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