Last week we had the pleasure of hosting a meet and greet at NMSU with Henry Reges, the national coordinator for CoCoRaHS.  Mr. Reges gave a short talk about how CoCoRaHS started and why it's important.  He showed us the CoCoRaHS recruiting video and afterwards mentioned how happy he is with the number of active observers in Las Cruces.  Further, he shared the exciting news that CoCoRaHS is working to expand into Mexico.

To emphasize the importance of collecting data, he stated that CoCoRaHS data doesn't sit on a "shelf" somewhere.  Instead, federal/state agencies, researchers, and companies use the data.  Finally, he stressed that, while CoCoRaHS should be a fun activity to participate in, it also provides a valuable service to our communities.

Dr. Dave DuBois, the New Mexico State Climatologist, then gave a presentation about the largest precipitation event in Las Cruces, occurring in 1935.  On August 29th and 30th, rainfall measured at the New Mexico State Agricultural College began at 11:05PM and by 2:00AM had reached 5.85".  Flood water began flowing into the city shortly after 1:00AM and the city was inundated in an hour.  Water depth reached 4 feet over most of the residential area and 100 houses were destroyed.  At the end of the event, the gauge recorded 6.49" of precipitation.  He then fast forwarded to a 2010 event, where the NMSU Coop station recorded 3.34" of precipitation.  The 2010 event was the third largest recorded precipitation event in Las Cruces.

We'd like to thank everyone for coming to the event and participating in our conversation about CoCoRaHS and climate in general.  For more information on CoCoRaHS or to join, visit cocorahs.org.