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Practice CoCoRaHS!
Mar. 31st, 2025 09:30 amToday is my practice day before Station MN-RM-283 goes ONLINE.
I'm glad I'm doing this because I am supposed to report by 8 am (latest is 9:00 am) and I brought the gauge in around 7 am and the snow took until DEADLINE to mellt. I'm glad this is just practice.
In case you want to get your nerd on... on snow days we measure precipitation two ways. You literally measure the inches of snow with a ruler on a board. In my case, because we have temporarily mounted the gauge to a wooden ladder, the board is the top rung. Today, at my house the total snow accumulation was 0.93 inches. Then, you bring your gauge indoors, let the snow melt, and then measure how much actual WATER that is. That measurement today is 0.13 inches.
Weirdly, the part of this that I am the most excited about is the fact that at the end of each week we are asked to write a little climate observation summary. To that end, I have bought myself a little waterproof field notes pocket-sized notebook so that when I go out for afternoon walks I can generally take note of the animal behaviors and plant growth that I see in my neighborhood. At least one of the examples they give in the training material slides is sort of charming, talking about frogs laying eggs in a pond and how this year has differed from previous. I feel like I can combine my love of wandering around nearby State Parks with this weekly report, since it's sort of optional information?
But, what fun, y'all. You can join at any point, even you Canadians! They take applicants from the US, Canada, and the Bahamas!
I will say that I checked my local map at 9 am to see if my measurements were matching up (at least approximately) with people around me and there are NOT a lot of folks in Ramsey County who are doing this. Hennepin has a few more? I guess I'm not super surprised, however, since there's actually a lot of hoops to jump through in terms of needing yard that has space between trees (the hardest part for us, which is why ours is still currently mounted to a wooden ladder. We're going to see if this spot actually works before we sink a post.) And, you need to have the space, time, and resources (both physical and monetary) to sink a post (and buy their expensive, fancy gauge.)
Even so, SCIENCE needs you, my friend!
I'm glad I'm doing this because I am supposed to report by 8 am (latest is 9:00 am) and I brought the gauge in around 7 am and the snow took until DEADLINE to mellt. I'm glad this is just practice.
In case you want to get your nerd on... on snow days we measure precipitation two ways. You literally measure the inches of snow with a ruler on a board. In my case, because we have temporarily mounted the gauge to a wooden ladder, the board is the top rung. Today, at my house the total snow accumulation was 0.93 inches. Then, you bring your gauge indoors, let the snow melt, and then measure how much actual WATER that is. That measurement today is 0.13 inches.
But, I am just practicing today. Tomorrow I plan to go live, as it were.
I can report either on the app, which I have or directly onto the website.
I am excite with SCIENCE.
Weirdly, the part of this that I am the most excited about is the fact that at the end of each week we are asked to write a little climate observation summary. To that end, I have bought myself a little waterproof field notes pocket-sized notebook so that when I go out for afternoon walks I can generally take note of the animal behaviors and plant growth that I see in my neighborhood. At least one of the examples they give in the training material slides is sort of charming, talking about frogs laying eggs in a pond and how this year has differed from previous. I feel like I can combine my love of wandering around nearby State Parks with this weekly report, since it's sort of optional information?
But, what fun, y'all. You can join at any point, even you Canadians! They take applicants from the US, Canada, and the Bahamas!
I will say that I checked my local map at 9 am to see if my measurements were matching up (at least approximately) with people around me and there are NOT a lot of folks in Ramsey County who are doing this. Hennepin has a few more? I guess I'm not super surprised, however, since there's actually a lot of hoops to jump through in terms of needing yard that has space between trees (the hardest part for us, which is why ours is still currently mounted to a wooden ladder. We're going to see if this spot actually works before we sink a post.) And, you need to have the space, time, and resources (both physical and monetary) to sink a post (and buy their expensive, fancy gauge.)
Even so, SCIENCE needs you, my friend!
