My wife Kit and I were disappointed when, after installing a rain gauge just 8 feet outside our kitchen window, we couldn’t discern the rainfall amounts on the gauge from that distance. Each reading required a trip outside. We decided to add some kind of dry substance that could add color – for us it was a pinch of Grape Koolaid powder – to the bottom of the gauge when the gauge was dry. Some days later (this was a month ago) we got a two-inch rain and you can see the results – this photo was taken from our kitchen window. Works wonderfully.

That red blob in the photo is the neighbor’s wheelbarrow. Reminded me of that poem by William Carlos Williams:

So much depends

upon

A red wheel

barrow

Glazed with rain

water

Beside the white

chickens.

Well, no chickens. 🙂 But a nice image. Here’s a shot of another rain gauge reading – smaller rainfall – with squirrel.