# How much rainfall did we get?



## creediddy2021 (Mar 27, 2021)

Hey TLF's,
Found a great website that tracks rainfall totals in your area...I wanted to share this with everyone....

https://www.iweathernet.com/total-rainfall-map-24-hours-to-72-hours

Pretty neat!

So far we had 2.5" of rain within the last 72 hours and more to come...


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

This is what I have been using for the past year. Rain gauges can be unpredictable with wind.


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## creediddy2021 (Mar 27, 2021)

Great Jeff! I know there are more websites that do the same thing, but I find this one resourceful.


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## creediddy2021 (Mar 27, 2021)

Does anyone have other websites they reference for rainfall?


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## GreenMountainLawn (Jul 23, 2019)

Get one of these and you will know exactly how much fell in your own backyard. Even pretty decent in wind because of the larger 4" opening. Cheap alternative to the expensive weather stations, but even more accurate.

https://www.scientificsales.com/6330-Stratus-Rain-Gauge-p/6330.htm


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## mazurkfsflip (Oct 5, 2020)

Jeff_MI84 said:


> This is what I have been using for the past year. Rain gauges can be unpredictable with wind.


you think this site is more accurate than a rain gauge on your own property? no way sir.


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## neophyte (Sep 28, 2020)

This is not accurate. Website states I got 3.5 inches. My rain gauge says 2.5 inches. Rain gauge wins.


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## Bluebee3 (May 25, 2021)

GreenMountainLawn said:


> Get one of these and you will know exactly how much fell in your own backyard. Even pretty decent in wind because of the larger 4" opening. Cheap alternative to the expensive weather stations, but even more accurate.
> 
> https://www.scientificsales.com/6330-Stratus-Rain-Gauge-p/6330.htm


This is the same gauge I use. I write down the amount every day (and report to CoCoRaHS), so I can easily look back to see how long it has been without rain or without enough rain.


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## jeffjunstrom (Aug 12, 2019)

I also use CoCoRaHs, but I have a rain gauge as well. The two have been fairly similar, with the occasional divergence.


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

We got another shower yesterday. My rain gauge says 1", iweather.net says .66". Heavy wind, can that contribute to more raindrops being blown into the gauge, thus making it appear that it rained more than it actually did?


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

I would generally trust any decent rain gauge or weather station on my property more than the accumulation estimates from the nearest radar. That technology has been around a long time, and I think it still has its limitations:

https://www.weather.gov/mrx/radarrainfallestimates


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

@GreenMountainLawn 
How high do you mount your rain gauge off the ground? Do you use a post similar to the one in the photo?


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## Phids (Sep 24, 2020)

What I don't get about iweathernet is how they figure exact rainfall amounts. I just noticed on the map near my house there is a small area of about 3/4 mile which shows varying pockets of rainfall for the last 12 hours at .5", .75", 1", and 1.25". Kind of hard to know how reliable such data is....I mean 1.25" in a 2500 sq ft area only?


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## GreenMountainLawn (Jul 23, 2019)

Jeff_MI84 said:


> @GreenMountainLawn
> How high do you mount your rain gauge off the ground? Do you use a post similar to the one in the photo?


Yes, you can use something like that. I actually just have mine on the back of my split rail fence post.

You can use a 4 x 4 (looks like what they are using in the pic). Before my fence I just used a 2 x 6 and cut it at the bottom so it was like a stake and could sledge it in the ground, worked great. Had it maybe 3 -4ft off the ground and the rain gauge comes with all mounting hardware. Really just mount it anywhere you can in the open away from trees, roof runoff, gutters, etc.


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## Ware (Jan 28, 2017)

Phids said:


> What I don't get about iweathernet is how they figure exact rainfall amounts. I just noticed on the map near my house there is a small area of about 3/4 mile which shows varying pockets of rainfall for the last 12 hours at .5", .75", 1", and 1.25". Kind of hard to know how reliable such data is....I mean 1.25" in a 2500 sq ft area only?


Per their website they are using Doppler data to feed their model. Some of the limitations of using radar to measure rainfall are described in the NWS link I provided above:



> ...Nevertheless, the system suffers from significant limitations inherent to the use of radar to estimate precipitation. These limitations have persisted despite nearly fifty years of research in the field. Much of the problem has been ascribed to the complex nonlinear relationship between radar reflectivity and rainfall rate at the surface...


That said it can certainly be used as a guide - in the same way you can look at storm total and one-hour rainfall estimates in some of the more full-featured radar apps like RadarScope. But just for example, iWeatherNet has overestimated my 72-hour accumulation (recorded by my Davis weather station) by over 20%.


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## MasterMech (Sep 24, 2017)

Ware said:


> ... But just for example, iWeatherNet has overestimated my 72-hour accumulation (recorded by my Davis weather station) by over 20%.


How do you know which is more accurate? Short of doing a large scale test in varying weather conditions (kiddie pools? Flow meters on the downspouts? :lol In calm conditions, I'd tend to trust the Davis or traditional rain gauges over radar. But that goes out the window anytime the wind picks up, which tends to happen frequently during significant rainfall events.

All that matters for us lawn wierdos is how much soaks in and stays in our soils which is a huge variable dependent on soil type anyways.


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

@GreenMountainLawn

I got my rain gauge from Scientific Sales. I haven't gotten a mounting post, but placed it on my backyard table prior to a rain shower. Oddly enough, both the rain gauge and iweather says .01". Let's see how accurate the website is during the next storm.


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## GreenMountainLawn (Jul 23, 2019)

Jeff_MI84 said:


> @GreenMountainLawn
> 
> I got my rain gauge from Scientific Sales. I haven't gotten a mounting post, but placed it on my backyard table prior to a rain shower. Oddly enough, both the rain gauge and iweather says .01". Let's see how accurate the website is during the next storm.


Nice. Yea, .01" probably isn't a good sample to compare....lol. That's like a heavy dew. Extremely heavy thunderstorm type rain will be good cross reference example.

Until you get a post, just stick anywhere it won't blow over. I had it in a open mulch bed spot with some dirt and mulch built up around at one point in time.


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

@GreenMountainLawn 
Improvise, adapt and overcome. Oooh heavy thunderstorm, I don't want to think about one of those for a while.


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## GreenMountainLawn (Jul 23, 2019)

Jeff_MI84 said:


> @GreenMountainLawn
> Improvise, adapt and overcome. Oooh heavy thunderstorm, I don't want to think about one of those for a while.


There you go, just got to make it work somehow.


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## Jeff_MI84 (Sep 28, 2020)

@GreenMountainLawn

Friday-Saturday there was 2.66" of rain. I thoroughly enjoyed looking at the rain gauge and pouring the overflow in for an exact precise measurement at my house. For the time being, it's by my side fence until I finish a flower bed along the west side of the property. I'm so glad I found it.


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