Why put a cap on your rain gauge in drought country?

[elagache]

Dear WeatherCat station caregivers,

As reported in this thread:

http://athena.trixology.com/index.php?topic=1885.0

Northern California was promised some rain last Wednesday.  So I dutifully removed the cap I keep on my rain gauge so that I could collect the promised bounty.  As also reported in that thread.  All the promises were for naught.  So yesterday, I went to put the cap back on and was greeted with . . . . this!!



But wait, the situation was even worse than it first appeared.  After removing the larger debris and the plastic screen I found:



All this junk had gotten into my rain gauge collector cone between Tuesday afternoon and Friday afternoon.  Fortunately, it all cleaned up with an air duster, but as long as we wait for rain, there is plenty of dust and other debris to clog the cone once more.  There is another change of rain supposedly at in the day on Sunday.  The cap won't come off until I'm really sure the rain is coming!

Just another day of being a weather station "caregiver" . . . . . .

Cheers, Edouard 

[WCDev]

Eurggh - what is it? Sand?

I've often thought Davis could do an IR rain gauge, much like the Instromet one, which has a resolution of 0.01mm. There must be many occasions where you don't quite get a bucket full and it doesn't tip?

I guess the problem would be with the power, but I'm sure Davis could come up with some kind of solution.

Secondly, the plastic screen in the Davis bucket isn't very good - apart from being rather large, it blows out at the first sign of any wind. I guess it's designed for leaves, but I've found the stalk of a leaf or very small bits of wood blocking mine on a few occasions.

[elagache]

Howdy Stu and WeatherCat station caregivers,

Eurggh - what is it? Sand?

It was lighter than sand.  It looked about the density of lightweight fertilizer.  I suspect it was debris from the large locust tree that is nearby.  It was windy enough to drag all that junk out.

I've often thought Davis could do an IR rain gauge, much like the Instromet one, which has a resolution of 0.01mm. There must be many occasions where you don't quite get a bucket full and it doesn't tip?

Hmm, i wasn't aware of this IR technology.  Here is the Instromet web page that describes it:

http://www.instromet.co.uk/Stand-alone-rain-sensor.html

I sure wish Davis would implement something like this.  There are many occasions when we get enough mist or drizzle that the ground is wet and slippery.  Even if it isn't a significant amount of precipitation, it is a safety issue especially if you have an elderly person in the house. 

Secondly, the plastic screen in the Davis bucket isn't very good - apart from being rather large, it blows out at the first sign of any wind. I guess it's designed for leaves, but I've found the stalk of a leaf or very small bits of wood blocking mine on a few occasions.

The new debris screen is a bit better, but it wouldn't have done a thing against this sort of debris.  Sadly what we really need is the first serious storm of the season to wash all this stuff down to the ground.  The forecast is holding for that first storm to arrive Sunday night Monday.  We'll see!

Cheers, Edouard