Page 7 - Black Range Naturalist, Vol. 1, No. 2

is the same as 8 inch gauge. (See photo below.) The 4 inch diameter funnel gathers the precipitation that falls into the smaller measuring tube which is marked in increments of .01 inch, with a full tube measurement of 1.00 inch. Any amount of precipitation over 1.00 inch, collects in the larger cylinder. The original 1.00 inch is emptied and using the funnel, the remaining amount is added to the measuring tube; repeating the process until a total amount for the reporting period is reached.
As evidenced in the pictures, the plastic 4 inch rain gauge is prone to deterioration from the intense Southwestern sunshine or from hail damage, but the good thing is that it can be replaced inexpensively.
Precipitation results from rising air. The Hydrologic Cycle describes the process. Liquid water evaporates from large bodies of water (oceans or large inland lakes) and is transported as water vapor (gaseous water) by the circulation pattern of the atmosphere. Air rises as it

In the colder times of the year, when frozen precipitation is anticipated, the funnel and collection tubes are removed from whichever gauge is being used and the precipitation is collected in the larger cylinder. The cylinder is then moved indoors just before the reporting time, the precipitation is allowed to melt completely, and the liquid is poured into the collection tube for a measurement.
encounters higher terrain, as it is displaced by an air mass of differing quality (known as frontal lifting), or as a column of air generated by the heating of the earth’s surface, which is called convection. As air rises, it cools and the water vapor condenses into cloud droplets (back to its liquid state) or ice crystals, if the temperature is below freezing within the cloud. If the droplets
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