Did you check out your CoCoRaHS water year summary report?!

Each year in October, the folks at CoCoRaHS headquarters work to compile water year summary reports for every single CoCoRaHS rain gauge station throughout the US and Canada.

The 'Water Year' begins October 1st and ends September 30th each year and can be thought of as the cycle between a resting or replenishing season in the fall and winter to a consumption season in the spring and summer. In the fall and winter months, precipitation from the sky generally exceeds evaporation from the ground. This is the time of year when groundwater and soil moisture are replenished and snow pack is formed creating the 'reserves' needed for vegetation growth and crop cultivation and harvesting in the spring and summer. 

You can view your water year summary report when you are logged into the CoCoRaHS website by clicking on 'View Data' at the top of the screen. The link to Water Year Summary Reports is listed about half way down the page. Be sure you are logged in to access the full details of your water year summary. 

Want to know how your annual precipitation total compares to your neighbors? Click on your state below and check out all of the water year summaries for CoCoRaHS observers by county. 

You can view charts of your monthly rainfall totals
through your CoCoRaHS Water Year Summary Report.  

North Carolina 

South Carolina

You can find links to all 50 states as well as Canada here.

If you haven't taken the time yet, be sure to check out your own water year summary and see how you 'measure up'!

Condition Monitoring Star of the Week, Nov 17th-23rd - Caswell County, NC

 Our Condition Monitoring Star of the Week was posted on November 22nd by observer with station number NC-CS-1. This report is great for a number of reasons.  First, the observer notes a several impacts including delays in falling leaves, fluctuating temperatures and abrupt changes in precipitation patterns. Recording the impacts caused by sudden shifts in weather help us better understand how these changes affect the environment. Secondly, they recognize that birds haven't appeared at their feeder yet. This can give valuable information to researchers about the effects of weather on bird migration patterns. Lastly, they note multiple weather impacts including those on human populations.  This gives researchers broader understanding of how both ecosystems and humans respond to local changes in weather. This report provides a great example to the many weather impacts in our communities that we may observe everyday but may not "take note" of.  It reminds us to be aware of our environment and the people around us in order to see the ways that we are intimately connected to the natural environment.  Great work NC-CS-1!


Categories
Agriculture
Plants and Wildlife
Tourism and Recreation
Water Supply and Quality

What season is it? One day we're in the 60's or 70's, next day we hardly rise above 40. Chilly days mean warm fires, thanks to my wonderful husband. Leaves were about a month late in giving us a good color show. Lots of leaves are still on the trees. But more leaves and acorns have already fallen than usual. We were quite dry - bad for fall plantings. But then almost an inch of rain fell. HURRAY! On another day we saw about a dozen flurries, extremely early. What a November! Hyco Lake level had been steadily dropping but that trend was reversed with the large rain. Current level is 410.02' While there are still a large number of campers at the recreation area this is due to work in the area. But not unusual to see a fisherman or two about every day. Bird feeders are ready but the usual winter birds have not arrived yet. Maybe the weather fluctuations are confusing them also. Except for winter cover crops, large fields are barren. Several have recently been plowed which creates a wonderful fall picture. Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving.

A news story about you!

The CISA & CoCoRaHS citizen science condition monitoring project (of which you are a part), is featured in the latest edition of "Dry Times".

"Dry Times" is the quarterly newsletter of the National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS). NIDIS is a supporting partner for CISA's work with citizen scientists, in addition to our other activities to develop a drought early warning program in the Carolinas. The CISA and NIDIS partnership is just one of several NIDIS-supported regional programs to improve our ability to prepare for and respond to drought in the United States.

Be sure to check out the newsletter to read the featured article about your work and to learn about other projects throughout the U.S.

Condition Monitoring Star of the Week, Nov 10th - 16th - Richland County, SC

Our Condition Monitoring Star of the Week was posted by observer with station number SC-RC-12 on November 15th.  We chose this report because the observer discussed how dry conditions were becoming in their area by noting dust while raking leaves and no significant grass growth.  These are great indicators of dry conditions. Dusty soil is an especially good example because it goes beyond stating that they soil is dry.  Rather it gives an example so we can have a better idea of how dry the soil has become. How does look and feel in your area?   Is it dusty? Does the ground look cracked?  It is squishy when you want on it?  These are all types of soil conditions you can record in your next condition monitoring report.  Thanks for setting a great example SC-RC-12!


After getting 1.25" at the beginning of November, we've now gone 13 straight days without rain. Liberated a lot of dust while raking leaves. Have had no significant grass growth for 4 weeks.

Fall photos depict seasonal change

The signs of changing seasons are all around us here in the Carolinas. Check out some of the great photos we've received of the colorful fall leaves!

Seasonal changes provide lots of great information for condition monitoring reports. Perhaps there are migratory bird species visiting your fountains and feeders or fall vegetables you are beginning to harvest for cold weather soups and stews. If you are an observer in the mountains of the Carolinas, how are businesses fairing who cater to the 'leaf peepers' this time of year? If you are in the Piedmont region where we've received less rainfall recently, are you seeing any changes in water levels in nearby rivers or lakes? For those of you who have been recording observations for about a year, you could even look back at last year's reports to see what similarities or differences you might be observing this autumn.

Thanks again to the folks who have shared photos. Seeing images of the observations you record is a great addition to your condition monitoring reports. Keep up the great work!

Colorful Beech and Maple trees in
Madison County, NC from Pat Momich

Donald Kunkle in Pomaria, SC shared this photo of a fire red Maple. He tells us that the Maples have retained more brilliantly colored leaves for a longer period of time this year than he can remember. 

This beautiful skyline photo was taken from the observation platform on Sassafras Mountain
in Pickens County, SC by Joe Vaughn. 

Condition Monitoring Star of the Week, Nov 3 - 10th - Wake County, NC

Our Condition Monitoring Star of the Week was submitted by CoCoRaHS observer with station number NC-WK-6 on November 8th.  We appreciate the observer's diligence in listing the types of species they observed. Their description of the color of water in local pond is also useful for understanding the timing of seasonal changes in water bodies.  We don't receive many of these types of reports but we'd like to! We hope this observer will continue observing changes in these same places in the future so we can have a long-term record of conditions at their location.  Thank you so much NC-WK-6!  Keep up the good work.


Categories 
 
Plants and Wildlife
Water Supply and Quality

Most of the trees in our yard have either dropped the bulk of their leaves completely (river birches), or have turned brilliant colors typical of the season (sugar and red maples, hickory and tulip trees) with the exception of the sycamores who apparently are still unawares the seasons are changing. The sycamores continue to have full green leaves. Despite minimal rainfall in the past week, the other plantings do not show any signs of lack of water. The grass is growing well. The stream and the pond water is black, even blacker than it was last week. This is not due to runoff but appears to be typical of this type of waterway in the fall.