Kids And Community Volunteers Complete Colorado State University Weather Research Project
Monday, August 17, 1998
FORT COLLINS--The Colorado Climate Center at Colorado State
University is concluding a rain and hail research project carried
out by school children and adult volunteers across the community.
The Colorado Collaborative Rain and Hail Study, or
COCORaHaS, gave children and adult weather enthusiasts an
opportunity to learn about weather while providing scientists
with valuable data. More than 100 volunteers, including students
from 37 area schools, measured rain and hail from their homes and
reported data to the Colorado Climate Center this summer.
"This project documented some surprising weather patterns,"
said Nolan Doesken, researcher at Colorado State and assistant
state climatologist. "We all know that summer rains and hail are
highly variable, but our data showed it even more dramatically
than we expected. For example, for the month of July, the west
side of Fort Collins received nearly four times as much rain as
the east side. Farther north, one storm dropped three inches of
rain and pounding hail near Wellington while most areas nearby
received little or nothing.
Doesken said it was also interesting to discover that in
what seemed to be a hot and dry summer, it rained on more than
half the days during the month of June through mid-August.
However, he said most of the summer's total rainfall came from
just four or five storms.
Each time a rain or hail storm crossed the area this summer,
volunteers took measurements with rain gauges or special pads
that measure hail stone impact. Participants entered their data
over the internet or called in reports to the Colorado Climate
Center every day.flSpecial computer programs written by student
participants were used to process data and automatically update
maps showing rainfall patterns. Scientists are studying these
maps to learn how storms developed and moved across the region.
"Our volunteers gave us data from many points across Fort
Collins and surrounding areas," said Doesken. "This has allowed
us to measure the size, intensity, duration and paths of summer
rain and hail storms in more detail than ever before. These
volunteers have made a significant contribution to scientific
research."
Several other groups are benefiting from the project.
Colorado State's Chill Radar Lab plans to use project data in
current research to improve radar estimates of rainfall and
detection of hail. The city of Fort Collins Utilities are using
the data to analyze local patterns of water demand and better
manage water supplies. Insurance companies are looking at how
these data could help them better understand patterns of damaging
weather.
The research team, including volunteers and their families,
professional weather experts and high-school interns, will gather
at City Park for a picnic Aug. 18 from 6-8 p.m. The event will
include contests and displays of the group's data. The picnic
will be the last project activity for participants. Other
activities included field trips and seminars on severe weather
and other natural hazards.
Project sponsors included: Colorado Office of Emergency
Management, State Hazard Mitigation Program and the Colorado
Natural Hazards Mitigation Council; City of Fort Collins
Utilities, Water and Storm Water; U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Agricultural Research Service; Colorado State University CHILL
Radar Laboratory; Poudre School District, Professional and
Community Experience Program and the Rocky Mountain High School
Science Department; Mountain States Weather Services; City of
Fort Collins Office of Emergency Management; and the Colorado
Agricultural Experiment Station at Colorado State University.
Next summer, organizers hope to expand the project into the
Denver area and also expand the educational opportunities for
participants. Data gathered from the project can be found on the
internet at http://ccc.atmos.colostate.edu. For more information
about the project, call Doesken at (970) 491-8545.
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