The yearly rainfall average is a vital piece of rainfall climate data. It is recorded through a variety of methods. Precipitation includes rainfall, snow, sleet, hail, and other forms of water falling to the ground and is measured in units over a given time period. Precipitation is commonly shown in inches per twenty four hour period in the United States. If four inches of rain fell in a twenty four hour period and the water wasn’t absorbed into the ground nor did it flow away downhill, then there would be a four inch layer of water covering the ground. In other words, it would have been raining cats and dogs.

A simple rain gauge is a low-tech method of getting a rainfall measurement and all that is required is a container, such as a cylinder with a flat bottom and straight sides. While this type of container can help you gauge whether it was raining cats and dogs, it is very difficult to measure small amounts of precipitation this way.

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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