This Is A Good Manual Backup Rain Gauge

[KeithC]

http://www.weathershack.com/product/productive-alternatives-stratus.html

The above gauge is a nice backup for your weather station. It meets NWS specifications and is not your average, everyday gauge. It measures in hundredths of an inch, or millimeters, and has an eleven inch capacity (27.94 centimeters). It's also useful for measuring frozen precip. FYI this thing is much larger than it appears in the picture. Under $40 US.

Many of you already have a backup gauge in place, I'm sure, but for those of you who are still looking for one, this is one to add to your short list.

When a Great Blue Heron left its calling card in my VP2 last week, at the start of a rain storm, the above gauge saved the day.

A good manual gauge is also great for calibrating your tipping bucket weather station. Tipping buckets can be overwhelmed during heavy rainfall. Having a this manual gauge nearby will give you the actual rainfall amount. And if your tipping bucket freezes during precip, just bring the manual gauge indoors after the event and melt down the contents for an accurate rain equivalent. This gauge disconnects (and reconnects) easily from its base.

[Steve]

Hi Keith,

That is the official 4" rain gauge for CoCoRaHS (http://www.cocorahs.org) and used by over 10,000 observers across the US and Canada. I use it to keep my VP2 rain gauge honest.

Steve

[elagache]

Hi Keith, Steve, and WeatherCat technological "transcendent" beings . . . . . 

A good manual gauge

  . . . . . 'Manual?' What is this 'manual' of which you speak?   Isn't everything push-button, plug and play, super-glitzy with all sorts of LEDs, LCDs and other fancy display stuff, compatible with both iOS and Android, and off-course, Bluetooth, WiFi, and G5 ready? . . . . . 

Cheers, Edouard 

[HantaYo]

'Manual?' What is this 'manual' of which you speak?   Isn't everything push-button, plug and play, super-glitzy with all sorts of LEDs, LCDs and other fancy display stuff, compatible with both iOS and Android, and off-course, Bluetooth, WiFi, and G5 ready? . . . . . 

My CoCoRAHS gauge is fully automated.  My wife runs out and checks it every morning.  I do have to enter the totals manually on the website though.

[Blicj11]

My CoCoRAHS gauge is fully automated.  My wife runs out and checks it every morning.  I do have to enter the totals manually on the website though.

Best quote of the day!

http://www.weathershack.com/product/productive-alternatives-stratus.html

Regarding the purchase of this CoCoRAHS gauge, I checked five other sites and all of them sell it for less than the site in the original post. The CoCoRAHS organization in my state sells it at cost to state members for $18. So shop around.

[KeithC]

Hi Blick.

That's because my post (and link) was not about a CoCoRAHS gauge, it was about a much larger capacity gauge--almost 3x. It's got you covered for those (albeit rare) super downpours, greater than the capacity of the CoCoRAHS gauge, when a tipping bucket device might very well be overwhelmed, rendering its data skewed.

[Blicj11]

Keith:

Thanks for the clarification. It's too early in the morning to spell CoCoRAHS anyway.

[KeithC]

Blick.

My boo boo. Actually my linked gauge is also a CoCoRAHS gauge, however it is almost 3x larger than the link given in the post below mine, thus the price difference.

[Steve]

Keith,

I'm not sure where you are getting the 3X capacity information, but your linked Stratus RG202 is exactly the same rain gauge as linked on the CoCoRaHS page I linked below yours. Here's a direct link to the one from the CoCoRaHS page. http://www.weatheryourway.com/cocorahs/rgcoco.htm or from Ambient at http://www.ambientweather.com/strgloteprra.html

Both are 11" total rain capacity and both have the 1" capacity inner tube. Both are 4.25" diameter and 14" tall.

I'm not trying to be argumentative, just trying to clarify an apparent mis-reading of the specs or a typo on weathershack's page that I don't see.

Steve

[KeithC]

Hi Steve.

You are perfectly right. In my (lame) defense, though, my incorrect "3x" size claim comes from your first post (above) about a 4" rain gauge:

That is the official 4" rain gauge for CoCoRaHS (http://www.cocorahs.org)

I thought the 4" was its capacity, versus the 11" capacity (almost 3x) of the one I referred to.

Sorry about that. My bad! I get today's Numpty Award!

Everyone--please follow Steve's link, not mine, or shop around as per Blick's advice.

[KeithC]

HantaYo,

That's some funny stuff. 

[Steve]

Thanks for the clarification, Keith. I'm glad we got that straightened out. The description of the 4" rain gauge was used as the diameter of a rain gauge is the standard method of describing them. The NWS and Forest Service use an 8", the UK Met Office a 5", and CoCoRaHS a 4" gauge.

Just a bit of confusion in our descriptions. All's good!
Steve