Author Topic: How many inches of rain will my rain gauge hold  (Read 2733 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline captgadget

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 359
How many inches of rain will my rain gauge hold
« on: July 26, 2020, 09:28:24 AM »
Well, going through Hurricane Hanna mine overflowed. Last night about 8 it had .4 and this morning overflowed. McAllen airport is recording 7" at this time with more coming.

Offline miraculon

  • Sunrise Side Weather
  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 4107
  • KE8DAF
    • Sunrise Side Weather in Rogers City MI USA
Re: How many inches of rain will my rain gauge hold
« Reply #1 on: July 26, 2020, 10:50:10 AM »
In the training slide show it says:

The whole gauge has a
capacity to hold eleven inches.


Greg H.


Blitzortung Stations #706 and #1682
CoCoRaHS: MI-PI-1
CWOP: CW4114 and KE8DAF-13
WU: KMIROGER7
Amateur Radio Callsign: KE8DAF

Offline captgadget

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 359
Re: How many inches of rain will my rain gauge hold
« Reply #2 on: July 26, 2020, 02:07:31 PM »
After I made that silly statement I walked out to my gauge and it had not overflowed like I thought when I made that observation from the deck. So I brought it in and measured the water was 10.3". Now we've had another .55". Good rain except for all the wind.

Offline ocala

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 4383
Re: How many inches of rain will my rain gauge hold
« Reply #3 on: July 26, 2020, 02:28:36 PM »
Nothing like 10 plus inches of rain. :grin:
I know during hurricane Irma a couple years ago I emptied mine halfway through just so that wouldn't happen.
The blues had a baby and they named it Rock & Roll

Offline captgadget

  • Forecaster
  • *****
  • Posts: 359
Re: How many inches of rain will my rain gauge hold
« Reply #4 on: July 26, 2020, 03:14:54 PM »
You know, I thought about that but as hard as the wind was blowing and pouring rain I just let her go. But a great idea that I'll have to keep in mind the next time.

Offline BoogieMan

  • NWS Forecaster, CoCoRaHS Regional Coordinator
  • Member
  • *
  • Posts: 1
Re: How many inches of rain will my rain gauge hold
« Reply #5 on: April 23, 2021, 01:34:29 PM »
In regards to reading/dumping during high rainfall events, no matter how fast you can read and dump the gauge, there's always going to be some missed "catch." Plus, there's the whole danger aspect of going out during a severe storm.

Some of our more dedicated observers actually have two complete gauge set ups, myself included. I'm the type of person that likes back ups should something break and I don't have to wait for a replacement to ship. The second gauge also works well for high rainfall accumulation events. If the gauge being used is filling up quickly and you think it will reach the limit of what it can hold, take the second gauge out and swap it with the one currently reading. Then you can read the first gauge inside the house, out of the elements, and you did the best you could to minimize the "missed catch."

 

anything