A state climatologist hopes to find resident volunteers to help track precipitation throughout Leavenworth County.

State climatologist Mary Knapp said there are two National Weather Service stations in the county, one in Leavenworth and another in Tonganoxie. There also is a local resident who takes daily readings for the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow Network in rural Tonganoxie, a volunteer program that Knapp hopes more residents will consider.

Network volunteers use a specific, plastic 4-inch rain gauge that is recorded daily. Knapp, whose office is in the Department of Agronomy on the Kansas State University campus, said discounted gauges can be purchased from her office for $22. The gauges also can be purchased for $28 on the network website, cocorahs.org.

CoCoRaHS volunteer Chris Somers, who lives about 5 miles south of Tonganoxie, recorded nearly 5.5 inches of rain from July 21 through Sunday. Somers had his highest amount in the last month, 1.87 inches, on Aug. 5.

Knapp said she would like to see more spots throughout the county being recorded because there can be varying levels of rain or snow in different county locations.

“If you are interested in being an observer, we’d like to have more observers in the county,” Knapp said.

Volunteers can apply two ways: contact Knapp or visit cocorahs.org and click on the “Join CoCoRaHS” link on the left side of the page. Knapp can be reached at mknapp@ksu.edu or 785-532-7019.