Welcome to Louisiana CoCoRaHS!

Louisiana is proud to become a member of CoCoRaHS weather observers.  CoCoRaHS was formed in 1998 in Colorado and has since rapidly expanded across the country.  A goal of CoCoRaHS is to have 20,000 observers nationwide.  The network is designed for volunteers from all walks-of-life including YOU!  The only requirements are you have a sincere love for weather observing.

How can I join?
1.  Purchase an inexpensive 4" official CoCoRaHS rain gauge.  You can get yours from www.weatheryourway.com for $29 - including shipping.
2.  Train to become a weather observer.  You can do this either online or at a local training session.
3.  Become an official observer by filling out a simple application.

Observing only takes a few minutes each day and provides data for real and meaningful scientific research.

National Weather Service Open House
Slidell, Louisiana
Saturday, May 16, 2009

Information for New CoCoRaHS Observers

Welcome to the world of CoCoRaHS, the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, and Snow network.

As a new CoCoRaHS observer in Louisiana you may have questions on how to set up your station to enable you to start recording rainfall observations. Two commonly asked questions we have encountered are:

1) How do I obtain a rain gauge?

and

2) How do I obtain latitude and longitude coordinates for my station?

Ordering a Rain Gauge

Ordering a rain gauge is a simple process. They are available for sale from "Ambient Weather" in Tempe, Arizona. They have a website that you can order the gauge for $22 plus shipping (normally $8-$10). The website address is:

http://www.ambientweather.com/strgloteprra.html

Obtaining Latitude and Longitude Coordinates

There are several ways to obtain latitude and longitude coordinates. If you have a GPS, you can obtain the coordinates directly. If you do not have a GPS you can obtain the coordinates easily from a number of different websites. Many users simply enter their address within a site, such as Google Earth, and use the latitude and longitude coordinates they obtain. However, when I used this method my gauge would have been located across the street in my neighbor's backyard! Another attempt using an address from a Louisiana user placed the rain gauge under a canopy of tree with no house in sight! We can do better than this.

The following procedure should allow you to obtain acceptable latitude/longitude coordinates for your gauge.

1) Open your web browser and go to the site:

http://www.getlatlon.com

A map of the Northern Hemisphere should appear on your screen. You will notice crosshairs at the center of the screen. Latitude/Longitude coordinates for the crosshairs will be beneath the map (43.834526782236814, -37.265625)

2) Move the location of your gauge under the crosshairs by clicking and holding you left mouse button to drag your gauge location under the crosshairs (initially this will be the State of Louisiana).

3) Zoom in on your location by pressing the "+" icon located in the navigation section located at the left edge of the browser window.

4) Repeat steps #2 and #3 until you can identify your specific gauge location. Use the "Map", "Satellite", and/or "Hybrid" map views to help you navigate and locate your gauge location.

5) When you are satisfied that you have located your site, read the latitude and longitude coordinates under the map and record these as your CoCoRaHS site information coordinates. A resolution of 4 digits after the decimal point should be sufficient for identifying your site.

Homework Execise

As an exercise, try locating latitude/longitude coordinates centered on the 50 yard line of Tiger Stadium on the LSU campus in Baton Rouge. You should obtain an answer of:

Latitude: 30.412033216713418  Longitude: -91.18380635976791.  Good luck. We hope that you enjoy taking and reporting your CoCoRaHS observations.

Questions?  Contact Your Local Coordinator

	Louisiana Office of State Climatology