Meteorologists as well as home gardeners measure all kinds of weather. They use a rain gauge to measure rainfall and it can be any old container, similar to a bottle, which is left outside to collect the rain and get a measurement. Whether it’s raining cats and dogs, or only slightly sprinkling, an accurate gauge will collect rainfall and give a measurement, thus informing you of how much rain has fallen. It is a fun and easy project to make a simple garden rain gauge.

Rainfall was the first weather element that was ever accurately measured. It isn’t known who measured it first or where the first rain gauge was used. Since nothing more than a bucket and ruler are required to get accurate rainfall data, it’s easy to see how this could have been done many hundreds of years ago. History shows that the Greeks kept rainfall records as early as the 5th century B.C, though they never had a measurement for when it was raining cats and dogs.

Meteorologists and weather observers use more sophisticated instruments, like electronic rain gauges and tipping buckets to more precisely measure rainfall amounts. A rain gauge should have a wide opening at the top for the rainfall to enter. The rain falls into the container and is funneled into a narrow tube. Because the tube is thinner than the top of the funnel, the units of measurement are further apart than they would be on a ruler to allow more precise measuring, down to the one-hundredth of an inch. If less than one-hundredth of an inch of rain falls, that amount is called a trace of rain. If three inches of rain falls, then it is said to be raining cats and dogs.

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