We recently had some landscaping done at our house. I have been watering the plants according to instructions. But when it rains, I do not know how much rain we have had. So I am looking for a rain gauge. I see them priced from about $10.00 on up. A lot of them look similar and are made in China. Does anyone have any thoughts or experiences with rain gauges? I would appreciate any thoughts or advice. Thank You.
July 29, 2023, 04:11 PM
bendable
I've never paid more than $3.00 for my little glass tubes versions
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July 29, 2023, 04:19 PM
Genorogers
If you place a straight sided glass or any vessel in an area that the rain is not deflected you have a rain gauge. No need to purchase anything special, just measure what's in the vessel after a rain or your watering session.
July 29, 2023, 04:22 PM
Gene Hillman
Farm stores or hardware stores should have some selection. They should be considerably less than $10. Most have a capacity of 6 or so inches. (Seldom necessary) They come in different shapes but seem to measure about the same. I set out 3, each different shape, and they seem to agree pretty closely. Keep track of whether you empty it after a rain or not so you don't count a rain twice.
July 29, 2023, 04:34 PM
tatortodd
We can get 7" in a day so I wanted one with that capacity and I wanted a wider mouth to more accurately catch diagonal rain. Very happy with this Amazon one
Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity
DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.
July 29, 2023, 04:43 PM
Genorogers
quote:
Originally posted by Genorogers:
quote:
Originally posted by tatortodd: We can get 7" in a day so I wanted one with that capacity and I wanted a wider mouth to more accurately catch diagonal rain. Very happy with this Amazon one
A straight sided vessel 4" in diameter or a straight sided vessel 4' in diameter, after a 5" rain, will both measure the same amount of water in inches.
July 29, 2023, 04:50 PM
tatortodd
^^ Both of your examples are wide mouth so what was the point of your post?
The one I linked is 2.17" at the mouth and at that price point most of the ones for sale are less than 0.5" at the mouth.
Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity
DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.
July 29, 2023, 05:01 PM
Genorogers
quote:
Originally posted by tatortodd: ^^ Both of your examples are wide mouth so what was the point of your post?
The one I linked is 2.17" at the mouth and at that price point most of the ones for sale are less than 0.5" at the mouth.
I said nothing about price point, all I said was that width of a straight sided vessel doesn't change the measurement.
July 29, 2023, 05:29 PM
tatortodd
You've missed the point. The little 0.5" wide ones at the Big Box stores don't accurately measure rain when it's raining diagonal. The wide mouth ones do and I provided a link to a 2.17" width rain gauge that is the same price point as the 0.5" wide ones.
Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity
DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.
July 29, 2023, 05:53 PM
Genorogers
quote:
Originally posted by tatortodd: You've missed the point. The little 0.5" wide ones at the Big Box stores don't accurately measure rain when it's raining diagonal. The wide mouth ones do and I provided a link to a 2.17" width rain gauge that is the same price point as the 0.5" wide ones.
You are 100% correct and I've missed the point by a mile or more ! This is truly your day.
July 30, 2023, 11:07 AM
bendable
Tator that's a doozy . Now I am wondering about shapes and liquids.
Safety, Situational Awareness and proficiency.
Neck Ties, Hats and ammo brass, Never ,ever touch'em w/o asking first
July 30, 2023, 11:09 AM
Keystoner
quote:
Originally posted by bendable: Tator that's a doozy . Now I am wondering about shapes and liquids.
I agree, doozy. Why does the direction of the rain matter?
Year V
July 30, 2023, 01:00 PM
tatortodd
quote:
Why does the direction of the rain matter?
The reasons are:
that a rain drop is about 1/8" of an inch wide. If it's falling straight down then not much problem getting in even the crappy narrow ones at the big box store (still the statistics issue in next bullet). However, when it's windy and coming down at an angle then geometry starts to limit the amount of rain drops getting through a narrow opening.
Statistically speaking, rain gauge size determines the repeatability and also the accuracy of a rain gauge. The larger the opening, the lower the statistical error in measurements in real-world applications. For example, the 2.17" wide rain gauge has 18.9 times more surface area than a 0.5" rain gauge making it more likely to reflect actual rainfall on my lawn.
Last summer, we had a pretty bad drought and the rare times rain went through it was more or less individual clouds only hitting a small area. Numerous times the front of my neighborhood would get rain and I'd get zilch a mile away. Made it impossible to trust the official rain gauge for Houston which is 10 miles away.
Might as well get an accurate rain gauge if you're going to spend $10 and use it to determine whether or not you're going to run your sprinklers. Frankly, running the sprinklers costs me about $10 each time and if I received sufficient rain I won't run my sprinklers. Most wide opening rain gauges cost $17 to $40 so that's one of the reasons I recommended the $10 one I linked. Being able to install it 2 different ways (stake or screwed onto side of something) is nice too.
Do you have to spend $10 to measure rain? No, assuming it doesn't blow away you could use spare bucket and stick a tape measure in it.
Ego is the anesthesia that deadens the pain of stupidity
DISCLAIMER: These are the author's own personal views and do not represent the views of the author's employer.
July 30, 2023, 01:37 PM
stkfox
That’s about as accurate and concise an explanation of the workings of a rain gauge as I’ve heard.
Tks for that.
Now, I want a rain gauge! I could use one here in Florida.
July 30, 2023, 06:46 PM
tsmccull
How about a 5 gal bucket and a stainless steel ruler glued to the inside? Waterproof glue, of course.
July 30, 2023, 10:12 PM
reflex/deflex 64
quote:
Originally posted by tsmccull: How about a 5 gal bucket and a stainless steel ruler glued to the inside? Waterproof glue, of course.
buckets are tapered otherwise they would not nest. Parallel sides are important.
----------The weather is here I wish you were beautiful----------
July 30, 2023, 10:29 PM
1s1k
My rain gauge might be off by .1 now that I think about it. I am now going to have to rethink my entire watering strategy. Just wow.
July 31, 2023, 07:57 AM
bendable
What would this rain gauge look like ?
At 16 inches tall. I want the bottom 8 inches to show 10ths of an inch increments up to The 5 inch mark. (8 inches up the tube) Then from five inch to the 8 inch mark only 1/4 inch increments.( For the top 8 inches of the vessel)
Safety, Situational Awareness and proficiency.
Neck Ties, Hats and ammo brass, Never ,ever touch'em w/o asking first
July 31, 2023, 09:06 AM
Ironbutt
If accuracy is important to you, then there are a whole bunch of precision rain gauges on Amazon, starting at around $40, and going up from there. Otherwise, one of the $5 ones you can get at just about any hardware store will work just fine.
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July 31, 2023, 11:06 AM
bendable
Safety, Situational Awareness and proficiency.
Neck Ties, Hats and ammo brass, Never ,ever touch'em w/o asking first