RAPID CITY, S.D. — The National Weather Service is working with the CoCoRaHS organization (Community Collaborative Rain, Hail, & Snow https://cocorahs.org/); a non-profit, community-based network of volunteers who measure and report rain, hail, and snow; to recruit more volunteer precipitation observers in our area. These reports are extremely valuable to many agencies and for many purposes, especially in establishing the Drought Monitor https://
Reporting daily precipitation is easy and quick: Once someone becomes a member, they just enter their observations on the CoCoRaHS app or website. Even when they don’t have any rain, reporting the zero measurements are very important to let drought officials know that no rain fell and not that they just didn’t send their reports.
— South Dakota Stockgrowers Association