Precipitation ( rain ) totals for East Snohomish County, Washington State for 2005 and 2006
This site should not be interpreted as an authoritative source for quantitative precipitation records in the Pacific Northwest area in general; but as a reasonably accurate indication of what happens to rainfall in a forested area compared to rainfall in non-forested areas, and as a record of the frequency of rainfall periods and general seasonal weather conditions in this location.
These measurments are taken in an area about 30 miles northeast of Seattle, Washington; near the foothills of the Cascade mountains. (Latitude 47.847996°   Longitude -122.150403°) This area is forested but the measurments in "the clearing" are taken in an area approximately .35 acres with trees surrounding. There are also measurements taken in "the forest". "The forest" is an area that includes second growth fir, and hemlock trees approximately 95 years old from approximately 35 feet tall to approximately 85 feet tall and some big leaf maples about 50 feet tall. The container is in an area with 50% cover in the winter - the area is typical of what is found in healthy second growth forests in the Pacific Northwest. The containers have straight sides, flat bottoms. This puts the surface area to volume ratio at 1 to 1 in other words if an inch of water is measured inside the container, it will represent an inch of precipitation that has fallen on the ground ( Newton BBS )¹.
Accuracy of measurements: plus or minus five percent of the actual rainfall; precision plus or minus .0150 inches. In the totals, anything over 4 places to the right of the decimal is rounded. Here, a trace of rain refers to the condition where rain fell, but not enough to be accurately measured. ( less than .015 inches ). The containers are checked in the morning, precipitation is measured and then the containers are emptied.Note: The amounts listed for each date represent the amount of rain 24 hours prior to the measurment During periods of fog the containers are not emptied until the fog lifts permanently.
A measuring device and several commercially made rain guages which follow the principles outlined at the beginning of this page are used to record the amounts of precipitation. For the comparisions between the forest and the clearing measurments, a consistant method of measuring is used with a marked ruler in the forest location and in the clearing location. This site is useful for demonstrating the difference between rainfall in the forest and outside of the forest, and for getting a general idea about rainfall. No entries for dates indicate no measurable rainfall. Differences in measurments are due to wind scattering the droplets differently in different areas; and squirrels birds and raccoons drinking the water. The problem with the wildlife disturbing the water has been mimimized (as of March 2006).

1 References:
ProfHoff 634, Ric Rupnik, David R. Cook, Don Yee, Richard E. Barrans Jr., Ph.D., Wendell Bechtold, meteorologist.
"Rain Gauge Design Differences". Online posting. 4/24/2003. Ask A Scientist Weather Archive. accessed 07 Jan. 2006. http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov/askasci/wea00/wea00159.htm

This is a part of the Newton BBS which is here: http://www.newton.dep.anl.gov
More scientific information can be found here: http://www.dep.anl.gov/ and here: http://www.aps.anl.gov/

2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 rainfall totals
2006 rainfall totals
back to main rainfall page
Rainfall can be collected from rooftop runoff and purfied using a BioSand water filter
Rainfall for 2005
March rainfall
All measurements are in inches		 totals
3/30/2005 2.5 2.5
April rainfall
2005-04-1 0.75
2005-04-3 1
2005-04-16 1.5
2005-04-20 0.875
2005-04-28 0.125 4.25
May rainfall
2005-05-12 1.75
2005-05-16 1.85
2005-05-18 0.6
2005-05-19 0.45
2005-05-20 0.65
2005-05-22 0.5 5.8
June rainfall
2005-06-1 1.8
2005-06-6 0.25
2005-06-8 0.875
2005-06-13 1.5
2005-06-15 0.25
2005-06-17 0.95
2005-06-21 0.1
2005-06-22 1.463
2005-06-23 0.0625
2005-06-27 0.062
2005-06-29 0.05 7.3625
July rainfall
2005-07-6 0.25
2005-07-8 0.24
2005-07-16 0.125
2005-07-22 0.18 0.795
August rainfall
2005-08-1 0.06
2005-08-17 0.25
2005-08-29 0.5
2005-08-30 Trace 0.81
September rainfall
2005-09-5 0.05
2005-09-9 0.375
2005-09-10 0.725
2005-09-11 0.19
2005-09-16 0.125
2005-09-30 0.25 1.715
October rainfall
2005-10-1 0.0625
2005-10-2 0.3125
2005-10-3 0.125
2005-10-7 0.0625
2005-10-10 0.0625
2005-10-11 0.0625
2005-10-13 trace
2005-10-15 0.25
2005-10-19 0.05
2005-10-20 0
2005-10-23 0.0625
2005-10-24 0.25
2005-10-26 0.25
2005-10-28 0.125
2005-10-29 0.125
2005-10-30 0.125
2005-10-31 0.57 2.495
November rainfall
2005-11-1 0.625
2005-11-2 0.563
2005-11-3 0.5
2005-11-4 0.75
2005-11-5 0.5
2005-11-6 1.375
2005-11-7 0.25
2005-11-11 0.25
2005-11-12 0.6875
2005-11-13 0.5
2005-11-14 0.313
2005-11-25 1.375
2005-11-27 0.25
2005-11-29 0.625
2005-11-30 0.3125 8.876
December rainfall
2005-12-2 2
2005-12-3 2.25
2005-12-5 1
2005-12-6 0.063
2005-12-20 0.5
2005-12-21 0.875
2005-12-22 0.75
2005-12-23 0.375
2005-12-24 1.156
2005-12-25 1.188
2005-12-26 0.563
2005-12-27 0.438
2005-12-28 0.688
2005-12-29 0.25
2005-12-31 1.313 9.159
2005 Total 43.7625

2006 precipitation
Who is the person doing these measurements and why should you even believe the records are accurate?
This person is not a scientist or a meteorologist.

The person doing the measuring: