Rain Gauge & Stream Monitoring Program

Volunteer Rain Gauge Program

Watonwan County Volunteer Rain Gauge Program has been collecting precipitation data for the Minnesota State Climatology office in St. Paul, Minnesota since 1984. Since the start, we have averaged 20 volunteer readers throughout the county gathering data. 

The data collected is entered into a database for various studies and weather prediction simulations. To view the data, please visit the University of Minnesota State Climatology Office website.

HydroClim Minnesota is a monthly electronic newsletter summarizing Minnesota’s climate conditions and the resulting impact on water resources.

View the MNgage Minnesota Volunteer Precipitation Observing Program website for a variety of precipitation maps. From multi-day, daily sampler, weekly precipitation, and annual precipitation amounts going back to 1990.

Rain Gauge Picture

Volunteer Rain Gauge Reports & Graphs

2010
20152020

201120162021 

20122017


20132018


20142019


Stream Monitoring Program

Watonwan County SWCD staff assists the state in collecting data at specified locations for stream monitoring. At these locations we collect water and pour into a sechhi tube to determine water clarity levels and assess the appearance & condition of the streams.

Our office has two locations which we stream sample once per week.

1. North Fork Watonwan River North of Darfur, MN.

2. South Fork Watonwan River North of Ormsby, MN

For more information about water quality of our lakes and rivers, visit the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency website.

If you have questions about either the Rain Gauge or Stream Monitoring Program, please contact our office at (507) 375-1225.