Real-Time Rain Gage Installed at USGS Stream-gaging Station at Ayers Brook in Randolph, Vermont

General USGS Contact: Debra Foster (603) 226-7837

USGS Technical Contact: Robert Brown (802) 828-4479

A real-time precipitation gage was installed by the USGS at the Ayers Brook stream-gaging station in Vermont on Wednesday, September 6, 2000. The USGS, in cooperation with the Vermont Emergency Management and the  National Weather Service as part of the Two Rivers-Ottauquechee Regional Commission's Project Impact Program, will install three precipitation gages in the region. The first precipitation gage was installed in August 2000 on the Ottauquechee River in West Bridgewater. A third gage will be installed shortly on the Waits River. These precipitation or rain gages will transmit data directly to satellites that will give the National Weather Service real-time knowledge of intense rains and can be used to issue flood warnings. Since the precipitation gages are co-located with stream-gaging stations, rainfall and subsequent flood-flow correlations can be improved. As the precipitation gage was being installed, the Brook was flowing at 11 cubic feet per second. During the 1998 flood, the estimated flow at the same point was 4,100 cubic feet per second! However, there was no rain gage at the location at the time to indicate exactly how much rain fell.

 

 Vermont's topography and the intense small storms that have occurred over the last few years have led to severe road damage, such as the recent rains on July 16, 2000, that created a federally declared disaster with over 2 million dollars in damage statewide.

 

These severe storms have been hard to predict in advance and to realize that they are occurring in the midst of a flood. Precipitation gages such as these will provide information that will help the Vermont Emergency Management agency respond faster to events and to evacuate areas if needed.  Vermont's Emergency Management agency will monitor these gages through the Internet during anticipated storms for early warning of severe rain. Partners in this effort are the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the National Weather Service, and Vermont Emergency Management.

The rain gage data also are available through the USGS web site: http/vt.water.usgs.gov.