Precipitation

Basic Requirements for Collecting, Documenting, and Reporting Precipitation and Stormwater-Flow Measurements - (PDF) US Geological Survey Open-File Report 99-255

Caltech's SnowCrystals.com is all about snow crystals and snowflakes and how these remarkably complex and beautiful structures appear, quite literally, out of thin air. Includes a collection of high resolution snow crystal photos.

Cloud Appreciation Society - You love lying in the park on a summer's day and looking for shapes in the cumulus clouds. You think a mackerel sky of puffy altocumulus stretching off towards the setting sun is one of the most beautiful sights in the world. In short, you love clouds. And yet everyone else just seems to complain about them. Are you the only one who thinks life would be poorer without these glorious 'patron goddesses of idle fellows'? No, you're not. There are others like you. Join them here.

Cloud Chart - (PDF) National Weather Service

Defining Atmospheric River: How the Glossary of Meteorology Helped Resolve a Debate - Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society

How to Read Your Rain Gauge - The Colorado Climate Center offers advice on obtaining accurate rainfall measurements using a 4-inch plastic rain gauge.

International Cloud Atlas - 2017 Edition - Manual on the Observation of Clouds and Other Meteors (WMO-No. 407)

International Cloud Atlas Volume I - (PDF) World Meteorological Organization, 1975

International Cloud Atlas Volume II - (PDF) Contains 196 pages of photographs, 161 of which are in color, accompanied by concise yet detailed captions - World Meteorological Organization, 1987

Northeast Snowfall Impact Scale - NESIS characterizes and ranks high-impact Northeast (United States) snowstorms. It has five categories: Extreme, Crippling, Major, Significant, and Notable. The index differs from other meteorological indices in that it uses population information in addition to meteorological measurements. Thus NESIS gives an indication of a storm's societal impacts.

Rain Gauge Calibration Table - For use with the NovaLynx 260-2595 Tipping Bucket Rain Gauge Calibrator.

Rain Gauge Calibration Worksheet - (PDF) For use with the NovaLynx 260-2595 Tipping Bucket Rain Gauge Calibrator.

Rainfall Correction Chart - For use with NovaLynx 8-inch rain gauges. (Correction of rainfall data is not required except in extremely heavy, torrential conditions.)

Relative Catches of Snow in Shielded and Unshielded Gages at Different Wind Speeds - By Leonard L. Weiss, Hydrologic Services Division, U.S. Weather Bureau, Monthly Weather Review, October 1961.

Shielded Storage Precipitation Gages - By J. Cecil Alter, U.S. Weather Bureau, Monthly Weather Review, July 1937.

SNOTEL Data Collection Network - The Natural Resources Conservation Service installs, operates, and maintains an extensive automated system called SNOTEL (for SNOwpack TELemetry) to collect snowpack and related climatic data in the Western United States. The high-elevation watershed locations and the broad coverage of the network provide important data collection opportunities to researchers, water managers, and emergency managers. Snowtel Infographic

Snow Measurement Guidelines - (PDF) National Weather Service Cooperative Observer Program.

Snow Rain Equivalents - This brief article from Weatherwise Magazine's Weather Queries column discusses the various factors that can affect the ratio of snow depth to water-equivalent depth.

Snow Survey Sampling Guide - Training and reference guide designed for snow surveyors who use sampling equipment to measure snow accumulation. Natural Resources Conservation Service.

Snow Water Equivalent Infographic - USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service

Snowfall to Estimated Meltwater Conversion Table - Excerpt from Surface Weather Observing (FAA Order 7900.5B 5/11/01)

Standard Rain Gage - National Weather Service training module describes the four major components of the 8-inch non-recording standard rain gage (SRG), installation and exposure of the gage, the use of wind shields, and measuring snowfall. Also compares the SRG with other types of rain collectors.

Why is the word "precipitation" used as the label for rain, snow, and hail? - From the University of Wyoming.

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