RUSKIN (970 WFLA) -- The National Weather Service is recruiting volunteers who don't mind getting up by 7:00 a.m. and checking a device in the yard for rain... or worse.
Meteorologist Tyler Fleming at the Ruskin station says they're looking for participants for CoCoRaHS: the Community Collaborative Rain Hail and Snow Network. Fleming says volunteers look at their rain gauges each morning, and report rainfall for the last 24 hours, and hail when there's severe weather.
"It helps us out with detecting and tracking flooding events", says Fleming, as well as the drought that Florida is currently experiencing.
Fleming says all you need is an approved rain gauge and 10 minutes to take a course online.
More information at THIS web link: