Meteorologists as well as home gardeners measure all kinds of weather. They use a rain gauge to measure rainfall and it can be any old container, similar to a bottle, which is left outside to collect the rain and get a measurement. Whether it’s raining cats and dogs, or only slightly sprinkling, an accurate gauge will collect rainfall and give a measurement, thus informing you of how much rain has fallen. It is a fun and easy project to make a simple garden rain gauge.

A simple rain gauge is a low-tech method of getting a rainfall measurement and all that is required is a container, such as a cylinder with a flat bottom and straight sides. While this type of container can help you gauge whether it was raining cats and dogs, it is very difficult to measure small amounts of precipitation this way.

A tipping bucket records precipitation on a rotating drum or electronically. A simple rain gauge has a funnel, but the funnel leads to two tiny buckets. The buckets are balanced similarly to a see-saw and each holds one-hundredth of an inch of water. When one bucket fills up, it tips down and is emptied as the other bucket fills with precipitation. Each tip of the bucket causes the rotating drum to record an increase of one-hundredth of an inch of rain. This method is not for when it’s raining cats and dogs.

Beth Kaminski is the co-author of Curing Your Anxiety And Panic Attacks which detailed cure panic attack cures as well as tips on the various medications for panic disorder available at anxietydisordercure.com.