Volunteers provide rainfall data for county through SWCD

By Anna Jauhola
Thirty-five people are actively monitoring rainfall totals across Kittson County.
Kittson Soil and Water Conservation District manages the Rainfall Monitor Program, which provides information to the Minnesota State Climatology Office.
“All the readers are volunteers,” said Sky Dahl, Soil and Water district outreach specialist. “When they sign up to volunteer, we give them a specific rain gauge, because they all use the same one. That way, it stays consistent without variables.”
Although most of the volunteers keep daily logs each month from April to October, there are seven who monitor snowfall precipitation as well.
Dahl said when she started with Soil and Water two years ago, they did direct mailings to get more volunteers, which brought in six people.
“That’s where it really popped. I would say we were at 25 volunteers when you started,” said Jamie Osowski, district manager.
There’s always room for more volunteers. There are no monitoring stations in Pelan, Klondike and Peatland townships. These are difficult because there are few if any residents in these specific areas. There has recently been one added in Norway Township.
“Those areas have been tough,” Osowski said.
The Rainfall Monitor Program helps keep track of precipitation throughout the year across the county. The data collected and sent to the state climatology office can show whether the county is in a drought, and is then used to determine if producers qualify for supplemental programs through Farm Service Agency and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
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“It also keeps track of the trends over the entire county, instead of just keeping track of certain areas,” Dahl said. “That’s why we try to get at least one in each township. It’s nice to have two or three in each township.”
The rain gauges used are accurate and durable. They consist of a large outer cylinder, and a smaller inner cylinder that measures out 1 inch of precipitation. If that is filled, it will spill into the outer container. When measuring, a volunteer will pour out the 1-inch cylinder and pour any remaining water from the large cylinder into the small one to continue measuring.
Snowfall is collected only in the large cylinder, melted and poured into the small cylinder to measure.
Readers take daily readings for one month at a time, Dahl said. Some only submit the total rainfall for the month. Others give detailed readings along with weather reports, stating type of precipitation, wind speed and direction, and more.
Recently, Dahl’s husband and his brother – Karson and Kameron – took over monitoring rainfall in Teien Township. Their grandfather, Terry Dahl, had recorded rainfall “to a T” until he passed away in 2023. Many of the volunteers just enjoy keeping track, and for others it becomes a bit of a contest, Dahl said. She particularly enjoys seeing the variances each months’ readings and seeing the difference in rainfall across the county. In 2023, Davis Township recorded 21.2 inches overall while Svea Township only recorded 15 inches.
Anyone interested in becoming a rainfall monitor volunteer or learning more can contact Dahl by calling 218-853-2619 or by emailing sky.dahl@kittson. mnswcd.org.