If you have a budding meteorologist in your family or are looking for a way to participate in community science, look no further! The Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) is a project to collect precipitation data throughout all times of the year across North America. Anyone can join and it only takes a few minutes a day to contribute! Very few tools are required and you’ll receive complimentary training after signing up. The only requirement is a desire to learn and watch and record weather patterns.

This project is also a wonderful way to hone observational skills and teach and practice data collecting. You simply install a rain gauge anywhere in your yard or near your home (attached outside of any window also works!) and each day record the amount of precipitation that has collected. You’ll enter your data periodically into the database and contribute to a body of research that scientists across the world refer to! These data are invaluable to scientists studying weather patterns such as drought.

As CoCoRaHS likes to remind us, “every drop counts!”

The Minnesota Zoo would love to see examples of how you used this activity at home! Please share pictures or comments via email at [email protected], and take less than 5 minutes of time to provide us feedback by completing this short survey.