Today's rain is a measure of the amount of rainfall at the observing station. This is measured by a tipping-bucket measuring device. As the water flows down the collection funnel, it causes little buckets on a 'teeter-totter' like arm to fill up. When the buckets get to a certain weight, the arm tips in that direction, and drains out the water. As the rain fall continues, the number of times the arm tips is counted, and this correlates to the amount of rain fall.

The rain rate is the rate at which the rain is falling. Higher rain rates mean that the rain is falling with more intensity. Light showers can produce rain rates barely above zero inches per hour. but Thunderstorms on the other hand can product rain rates of over 5 inches per hour! In this example, a rain rate of 5 inches per hour will result in 5 inches of rain in one hour.

Winter time note:
In the Winter, the precipitation falling is not in the form of liquid water, but rather that of solid water. The tipping bucket rain gauge fails to work in freezing conditions because the water cannot drain out of the buckets.

Please report any errors above to Max Riseman