Weather | Observations
A New Water Year
Deploying diligence to record daily data
The Sunday Dispatch ~ October 1, 2023
Another water year comes to a close and a new one begins.
It’s a different kind of new year. A time to reflect and look back upon a year of data collection and reporting and the diligence to make it all happen. Similarly, to look forward with resolve to strengthen a process and method, or simply continue on with what you have found to work best.
Collecting precipitation data on a daily basis has been a comforting practice for me for more than ten years. There is something quite grounding about recording the details of the weather and climate.
To collect the data, all you need is a rain gauge placed somewhere outside that will collect a sufficient amount of rainfall to be measured. Every morning, you check the gauge, record the levels in tenths of an inch, empty it out, and put it back in place for another day.
Easy enough.
So what exactly is a water year?
Water years generally begin in October and end in September. It serves as a way to measure changes in the hydrological record from year to year. Today marks the beginning of the new water year for 2024. Notably, water…
