"Jeremy Handscomb" wrote in message
...
Just a quick question to ask how DO you actually measure rainfall totals
during a hurricane when I imagine most of the rain is coming in
horizontally?

Read on www.ukweatherworld.co.uk that Isla Mujeres has recorded 1560mm of
rainfall in the last 24 hours. Have to state that this is very unconfirmed
though!

Thanks,

Jeremy H
Ilminster, Somerset

There is a way of looking at this implied by my first posting. Look at the
ground. The raindrops hitting a unit area (either an acre or a square
meter, etc.) of ground during the storm will be such and such and this will
yield the rainfall amount - independent of the angle at which the drops hit
the ground. That same unit of area could be the opening at the top of the
rain gage.

( However, a rain gage projecting upward above the ground may, in a more
detailed analysis, be seen to have SOME effect on the collected rain because
it disturbs the air flow (wind) and hence the "flow" of raindrops and this
could be a VERY MINOR effect and I guess that somewhere and at sometime all
this has been investigated in great detail by someone).

Alex
St. Cloud, Minnesota