Holiday weather gift ideas

Do you have someone special who has an interest in weather? Here are some weather gift ideas.

Rain Gauge – The Community Collaborative Rain Snow and Hail program, nicknamed CoCoRaHS, offers four-inch thick plastic rain gauges for less than $30, including shipping.

Visit www.cocorahs.org to learn more about this precipitation reporting network and the links to several rain gauge vendors. Perhaps that someone special would like to join CoCoRaHS and report their precipitation, including snow from their backyard.

Weather Station – There are a variety of weather stations available for your special someone. If they get such a station, they can use the software to report their data online by becoming a member of the Citizen Weather Observation Program or CWOP, and have their data posted online. Get more information about CWOP

Many in the weather community monitor reports daily from both the CWOP and CoCoRaHS programs. These groups include TV weather anchors, National Weather Service forecasters, researchers, emergency managers, transportation authorities, power utilities, and others.

All-Hazards Weather Radio – Your special someone can monitor their local NOAA Weather Radio station for the latest forecasts and current conditions. And when a local Emergency Alert System or EAS warning message is sent, the receiver acts like a smoke detector, alerting you to a potential life threatening message.

These EAS messages include flood and weather warnings, and also other non-weather warnings such as tsunami, volcanic eruption, hazardous release, and Amber Alerts. Many receivers offer site specific and event specific programming capabilities allowing you to tailor the receiver to your local needs. NOAA Weather Radio is a life saver for the cost of a pair of shoes. Visit www.wrh.noaa.gov for more information about NOAA Weather Radio and where to obtain weather radio receivers.

All of these gift ideas should bring joy to weather enthusiast this holiday season.