Chief meteorologist for the middle of nowhere, New Mexico

True confession time: I am a weather nerd. I love all things weather. I pay attention to it, I take pictures of it, and I keep track of it. I have a spreadsheet dating back to the day I moved here in October 2005 which lists every drop of precipitation that's fallen on the 7MSN. It's a rancher thing, I suppose. Knowing how much rain and snow falls in winter is a reliable indicator of whether locoweed sprouts in spring. Likewise, knowing how much doesn't fall in spring tells me how much hay I need for summer. And, most importantly, knowing how much rain falls one day lets me know how deep my truck will get stuck in the mud the next day if I try to drive out to the highway.

Anyway, recognizing my nerdiness, a recent visitor to the ranch suggested I look into the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network (CoCoRaHS). Thanks, LeAnn! I checked it out online and instantly knew these were my people. "CoCoRaHS is a grassroots volunteer network of backyard weather observers of all ages and backgrounds working together to measure and map precipitation in their local communities...The only requirements to join are an enthusiasm for watching and reporting weather conditions and a desire to learn more about how weather can affect and impact our lives."

I registered and ordered my official rain gauge, which arrived on Saturday. Smooch helped me set it up.

Smooch: Nice gauge. What a waste.

Smooch: Maybe we can use it to measure dust.

Smooch: Seriously, mom, what's the point?

Me: The point is, we'll be able to enter our measurements online 

and provide the data for natural resource, education and research applications.

Smooch: Whatever.

Once we got the gauge mounted to a sturdy post, it was time to place it in an appropriate location. It had to be: 

1) far enough from the house, barn, and trees so as not to skew the amount of rain we collect 

2) close enough to the house so I remember to look at it and report the measurements 

3) in an area where nobody would mess with it. This last one could be tricky.

I ended up placing the gauge in my "sacrifice area" –

the two acres of the ranch which are off limits to equines and home to the hay barn and poop track.

Me: Smooch, I'm sensing you don't share my enthusiam for this project. You seem distracted.

Smooch: Ya think? 

Me: It's one thing for those damned squirrels to be living in the hay barn,

but if they know what's good for them, they'd better not mess with my rain gauge.