CJOB News Team reporting
4/28/2012
The Manitoba government will support a volunteer-based snow and rainfall monitoring network called the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS) in Manitoba.
Premier Greg Selinger says it will provide more accurate and timely weather data to enhance flood forecasting.
Volunteers will take daily measurements of rain, hail and snow, and then report the readings to the CoCoRaHS website (www.cocorahs.org). The daily observations are instantly available for public and government viewing and use. The volunteer system in Manitoba will support up to 200 sites in 2012, providing daily measurements to be shared through the existing network. It extends to all 50 U.S. states and has over 15,000 American volunteer observers.
The data is used in a variety of ways by weather and water-management specialists, emergency managers, utilities, mosquito-control areas and farmers. CoCoRaHS originated with the Colorado Climate Center at Colorado State University in 1998 following a record-breaking flood at Fort Collins. The Canadian network was initiated in Manitoba in December 2011.
Further information including details about volunteering is available at:
www.cocorahs.org/Canada.aspx.
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