History

The Central Ohio Raingage Network (CORN) was founded by Bob Davis in 1985, as a means of documenting how rainfall can vary over different parts of the Columbus area, and also to assist the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Water in the preparation of their monthly Water Inventory Report for the State of Ohio. Four observers reported data for the inaugural report of April 1985; all of the initial observers were employees of Dodson-Lindblom Associates, Consulting Engineers. To add to the database, (ODNR) / Division of Water began to furnish data to the network from several of its central Ohio employees, and also from several other volunteers and municipal gages who reported monthly precipitation data to ODNR. By the end of 1987, CORN had approximately 20 reporting gages. During the next 4 years, however, the weather was making news headlines frequently in the area, and interest in rainfall information increased dramatically. Drought during 1988, followed by flooding rainstorms in 1989 and 1990, and the return of drought conditions in 1991-92 sparked the news media's interest in rainfall data, and CORN became a prime source of information for this data. As a result, the network expanded rapidly during the period 1988-1992 (thanks also in part to articles in the Columbus Dispatch by John Switzer, and by Channel 4's use of the network's data on their newscasts), and by the end of 1992, CORN had grown to a total of 65 gages.

Since that time, there have been several periods of volunteer recruiting, in an attempt to spot volunteers in areas where no data was being collected. At the beginning of the year 2002, there were a total of 120 gages in the Central Ohio Raingage Network. Of this total, 96 gages were manned by volunteers reporting daily precipitation information directly to Bob Davis, with the remaining gages being associated with either the National Weather Service Cooperative Observer Program, or the ODNR / Division of Water data collection program. Monthly precipitation totals from these remaining gages were being included in the monthly CORN reports.

Some of the highlights of CORN history include:

... April 1985: The network was organized, and the first CORN report was published, based on information from 4 volunteers, all located within Franklin County. Three of the original four volunteers are still recording data for the network. The original report was prepared by hand ... a two-sided single page with daily rainfall information provided in a table on one side, and a map showing the location of the gages on the other.

... January 1989: Monthly CORN reports became computerized, utilizing KEDIT, a DOS-based editing program to produce the report. The report was set up in a 132-column format, which required printing out on 11" x 17" tractor paper. Condensed printout was used on 11" x 17" sheets to provide a printout that could be copied on 8 1/2" x 11" paper.

... August 1990: The "Summary Information" written text was introduced into each monthly report.

... January 1992: The report format was changed to 80-columns, allowing full size printout of DOS file sheets/pages onto 8 1/2" x 11" sheets.

... April 1991 to April 1992: CORN expanded from 35 to 60 gages, as a result of news coverage associated with drought conditions during the period.

... December 1992: The original hand-written reports from 1985-1988 were converted into 80-column format DOS-based computer reports by Leslie Eyre/Rausch of our network. Data from that time period (1985-1988) that had been received since publication of the original handwritten reports were incorporated into the new computerized reports.

... February 1997: A total of 11 new gages were added to the network, all of which were volunteers associated with the National Weather Service Cooperative Observer Program. This increased the total number of gages to 97.

... August 1997: CORN boundary limits were established, to be coincident with the National Weather Service's boundary for the "Central Ohio" climatic region of Ohio. This included 10 Counties (Marion, Morrow, Union, Delaware, Madison, Franklin, Licking, Fayette, Pickaway, and Fairfield). The network had a total of approximately 100 gages at this time.

... April 2001: The monthly CORN report was changed from a DOS-based format to a Microsoft Word format cover maps remained as is, however.

... September 2001: CORN cover maps showing the locations of gages were converted to tables, showing gages in numeric order within each County. This converted the entire report into a WORD document.

... December 2001: Volunteers from outside of the official 10-County network area began to be accepted, and included in the report as Supplemental Gages to the network. Seven new gages (Buchtel, Nelsonville 3NNE, Brandon 1W, Xenia, New Lebanon, Thornport, and Sabina 2NE), all daily reporting gages, were added to the network at this time.

Some of the volunteers in the network have personal precipitation records which date back to a time before their affiliation with our network. In addition to furnishing CORN with their precipitation data, some of our volunteers also assist the National Weather Service in Wilmington by participating in their flash flood and severe storm spotter programs.

Those people who volunteer to become members of the Central Ohio Raingage Network receive a copy of each month's CORN report free of charge. We appreciate all of the data that our volunteers provide each month; the data comprise a valuable data bank of precipitation information for the Central Ohio area, which is used not only by local news media, but also by engineers, scientists, researchers, attorneys, law enforcement, insurance companies, and others as part of their work.


	HISTORY OF THE CENTRAL OHIO RAINGAGE NETWORK (CORN)
		The Central Ohio Raingage Network (CORN) was founded by Bob Davis in 1985, as a means of documenting how rainfall can vary over different parts of the Columbus area, and also to assist the Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) Division of Water in the preparation of their monthly Water Inventory Report for the State of Ohio. Four observers reported data for the inaugural report of April 1985; all of the initial observers were employees of Dodson-Lindblom Associates, Consulting Engineers. To add to the database, (ODNR) / Division of Water began to furnish data to the network from several of its central Ohio employees, and also from several other volunteers and municipal gages who reported monthly precipitation data to ODNR. By the end of 1987, CORN had approximately 20 reporting gages. During the next 4 years, however, the weather was making news headlines frequently in the area, and interest in rainfall information increased dramatically. Drought during 1988, followed by flooding rainstorms in 1989 and 1990, and the return of drought conditions in 1991-92 sparked the news media's interest in rainfall data, and CORN became a prime source of information for this data. As a result, the network expanded rapidly during the period 1988-1992 (thanks also in part to articles in the Columbus Dispatch by John Switzer, and by Channel 4's use of the network's data on their newscasts), and by the end of 1992, CORN had grown to a total of 65 gages. Since that time, there have been several periods of volunteer recruiting, in an attempt to spot volunteers in areas where no data was being collected. At the beginning of the year 2002, there were a total of 120 gages in the Central Ohio Raingage Network. Of this total, 96 gages were manned by volunteers reporting daily precipitation information directly to Bob Davis, with the remaining gages being associated with either the National Weather Service Cooperative Observer Program, or the ODNR / Division of Water data collection program. Monthly precipitation totals from these remaining gages were being included in the monthly CORN reports. Some of the highlights of CORN history include: ... April 1985: The network was organized, and the first CORN report was published, based on information from 4 volunteers, all located within Franklin County. Three of the original four volunteers are still recording data for the network. The original report was prepared by hand ... a two-sided single page with daily rainfall information provided in a table on one side, and a map showing the location of the gages on the other. ... January 1989: Monthly CORN reports became computerized, utilizing KEDIT, a DOS-based editing program to produce the report. The report was set up in a 132-column format, which required printing out on 11" x 17" tractor paper. Condensed printout was used on 11" x 17" sheets to provide a printout that could be copied on 8 1/2" x 11" paper. ... August 1990: The "Summary Information" written text was introduced into each monthly report. ... January 1992: The report format was changed to 80-columns, allowing full size printout of DOS file sheets/pages onto 8 1/2" x 11" sheets. ... April 1991 to April 1992: CORN expanded from 35 to 60 gages, as a result of news coverage associated with drought conditions during the period. ... December 1992: The original hand-written reports from 1985-1988 were converted into 80-column format DOS-based computer reports by Leslie Eyre/Rausch of our network. Data from that time period (1985-1988) that had been received since publication of the original handwritten reports were incorporated into the new computerized reports. ... February 1997: A total of 11 new gages were added to the network, all of which were volunteers associated with the National Weather Service Cooperative Observer Program. This increased the total number of gages to 97. ... August 1997: CORN boundary limits were established, to be coincident with the National Weather Service's boundary for the "Central Ohio" climatic region of Ohio. This included 10 Counties (Marion, Morrow, Union, Delaware, Madison, Franklin, Licking, Fayette, Pickaway, and Fairfield). The network had a total of approximately 100 gages at this time. ... April 2001: The monthly CORN report was changed from a DOS-based format to a Microsoft Word format cover maps remained as is, however. ... September 2001: CORN cover maps showing the locations of gages were converted to tables, showing gages in numeric order within each County. This converted the entire report into a WORD document. ... December 2001: Volunteers from outside of the official 10-County network area began to be accepted, and included in the report as Supplemental Gages to the network. Seven new gages (Buchtel, Nelsonville 3NNE, Brandon 1W, Xenia, New Lebanon, Thornport, and Sabina 2NE), all daily reporting gages, were added to the network at this time. Some of the volunteers in the network have personal precipitation records which date back to a time before their affiliation with our network. In addition to furnishing CORN with their precipitation data, some of our volunteers also assist the National Weather Service in Wilmington by participating in their flash flood and severe storm spotter programs. Those people who volunteer to become members of the Central Ohio Raingage Network receive a copy of each month's CORN report free of charge. We appreciate all of the data that our volunteers provide each month; the data comprise a valuable data bank of precipitation information for the Central Ohio area, which is used not only by local news media, but also by engineers, scientists, researchers, attorneys, law enforcement, insurance companies, and others as part of their work. END