GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Rain and snowfall events rarely accumulate for all areas equally.

There can be big differences in how much precipitation was received even from neighborhood to neighborhood some days! With that being said, some viewers are wondering what the best ways are to see how much rain fell near their area after a system rolls through.

HOW DO I FIND RAIN REPORTS?

While there are a few different websites that can give you an idea of how much rain has fallen, or how much rain the radar believes has fallen, one of the best resources for rainfall reports is the website CoCoRahs.

CoCoRahs stands for ‘Community Collaborative Rain, Hail & Snow Network.’ This resource is comprised of thousands of volunteers all over the country who religiously record how much rain or snow they have received every 24 hours.

While there is some suggested training to be a CoCoRahs observer and suggested tools they recommend, like the official rain and snow gauge, anyone can volunteer to be a spotter!

HOW ACCURATE ARE REPORTS?

Keep in mind, because this is a network of volunteers there are often many more reports in areas that are more populated, like big cities. There also will likely be a different number of reports each day because some people may have forgotten to take a measurement, or could be out of town.

The interactive map allows users to change the date they are looking for rainfall or snow. It will also show station summaries with seasonal rainfall totals or snowfall totals for an entire year, as well as the number of times that station entered a report.

HOW CAN I JOIN?

CoCoRahs is always looking for new recruits to help meteorologists with rain and snowfall observations. Ground truth reports from storm spotters are exceptionally valuable.

If you are interested in joining the CoCoRahs Network, simply head to cocorahs.org to get started.