How do the weather people 'measure rain' ?

Question

like when they say yesterday there was 2 inches rain in so & so area - how do they measure that?

Answer 1

You can make your own rain gauge.
It doesn't matter how big it is, so long as its tubular and the sides are parallel. From a horizontal perspective it should appear rectangular and from a vertical perspective it should be a perfect circle.

Then you put a scale of inches along the side measuring the surface of the inside base. Leave it outside for 24 hours in a place where it won't be covered or disturbed by people or animals and when you collect it, if its been raining, there should be some rain water in it. You might also want to keep it in the shade so the sun doesn't dry the water up.

Anyway, when you measure it you want to rest it on a flat, steady surface; wait for it to settle and read the measurement carefully and not at an angle or you will get a false reading.

Answer 2

They collect it in a measuring cup.
Basically put a cup outside in your garden, in a box so no sun can dry it up, and away from anything that can drip into it. Then wait for the rain. After 24hrs measure the water in the cup, if it's 2 inches deep and your cups opening is a square foot, then it rained 2 inches of water for every square foot in your area.
You will notice that the areas they talk about will 'coincidentally', have a weather station nearby.
They can also estimate over oceans using radar / satellite etc. but these measurements are always wrong because clouds/ mist/ fog is rain.

Answer 3

The rain gauge is correct as in what they use to measure it but the principle works like this I think; If you imagined the land to be perfectly flat with no run-off and the water that falls stays where it is, then 2 inches would be the height of water that had fallen.

Answer 4

With precipitation meters which are set out over a set area and as other people have already pointed out measurements usually mm on the side of the meter all measurements are recorded and the average being the statistic for that area.

Answer 5

There are "Weather Stations" across the country and they have all the equipment to measure everything to do with the weather including something pretty much like a small bucket with measurements on the side.

Answer 6

Ther are various "weather stations" set up all over the country. They measure temperature, wind speeds etc.
The also have a "standard" collecting flask for rain (don't know the exact dimensions) that is marked in inches (and fractions) and it gives the amount that falls in a given period.

Answer 7

They have a pot that they put on the ground, let it fill as the rain falls and measure how much rain has fallen from there! Obviously it's slightly more technical than that, but that's basically what happens!

Answer 8

They gather 100 raindrops, stack them up and measure them with a tape.

So yesterday 100 raindrops stacked up measured 2 inches.

Answer 9

People like to leave tubes with measurements out. However much water is in them is what they say it is, I guess.

Answer 10

they keep a pot with a funnel at its mouth in a open space in the area. rain accumulates in this pot without interference. height of rainwater in the pot indicates rainfall. this pot with funnel they call it rain gauge.