Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

The 8^th meeting of the WERA 1012 Committee convened at the YMCA of the Rockies in Estes Park, CO by Chair Laura Edwards. The first day started with a “State of the Program” presentation by Nolan Doesken. The CoCoRaHS program is now 17 years old. It continues to grow, with Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands added during the past year. The Canadian provinces of Alberta and British Columbia were also added, with more expansion in Ontario. A highlight of the year was the installation of a CoCoRaHS gauge at the White House in April 2015. Tony Bergantino presented the results of an analysis of CoCoRaHS participation he had done, which ultimately highlighted the fact that while recruitment is important, retention is an area the program needs to devote more attention to.

Glen Conner, Kentucky State Climatologist Emeritus, gave a keynote presentation “Perceptions of Climate Change”.

Other topics discussed during the meeting were drought monitoring and drought impact reporting, snow water equivalent measuring with contributions from our Canadian partners, and Recruiting in Rural Areas: Success, Opportunities, and Challenges. Committee reports were presented for the following: Precipitation Measurements, Quality Assurance/Quality Control, CoCoRaHS/Coop Collaboration, March Madness Recruitment, Outreach/Education, and Sustainability/ Funding. Partner reports were given by the National Weather Service Coop program, including the 125^th Anniversary plans, the PRISM Group, and CoCoRaHS Canada. There were updates from CoCoRaHS headquarters staff and extended discussion with them on issues related to the program.

Outreach and Education: CoCoRaHS has had a presence at school Water Festivals in Colorado presenting to 5^th graders and recruiting schools to participate. A “Measuring Hail” video was developed and released through the CoCoRaHS YouTube channel.

Quality Control/Quality Assurance: QC Ticketing System was expanded to include all participating Canadian provinces. Tickets may now be submitted for any state. A second version of the CoCoRaHS Error Checking Assistant (CECA) is in beta testing. A lot has been learned by the tracking of suspected data errors that will feedback to observer training with the goal of preventing errors.

Precipitation Measurement: In-house publications have been compiled. A citation search of publications referencing precipitation measurements yielded more than 100K citations. A new committee (see below) will work to narrow the focus of the information to be gathered.

Mobile app development continues. Plans are to add more functionality to the apps, including the ability to submit Significant Weather Reports.

Committee missions were reviewed and two new committees were organized and one realigned. The Web Interface committee was dissolved.

Recruitment-Retention Committee will replace the March Madness Committee, Chair: Henry Reges. Members: Tony Bergantino, Dave Robinson, Laura Edwards, Noah Newman, Stan Engle

Coordinator Support Committee – new. Chair: Henry Reges. Members: Steve Hilberg, Jim Zdrojewski, Tony Bergantino, David Glenn, Dave Robinson

Precipitation Prococols (new name for Precipitation Measurement). Chair: Tony Bergantino. Members: Adnan Akyuz, Nolan Doesken, Zach Schwalbe

Innovation and Development – new, for creation of value added products. Chair: Adnan Akyuz. Members: Chris Daly, Ian Nichols, Bill Sorenson, Julian Turner, Nancy Selover, Cindy Lutrell, Tony Bergantino

Education and Training- Chair: Mary Knapp. Members: Melissa Griffin, Adnan Akyuz, Noah Newman, Zach Schwalbe

QualityAssurance/Quality Control – Chair: Steve Hilberg. Members: Tony Bergantino, Zach Schwalbe, Bill Sorenson, Tim Kearns, Matt Gerbush, Julian Turner, Michael Willette, Bryant Korzeniewski

Collaboration – Chair: Mary Knapp. Members: Jim Zdrojewski, Harry Hillaker, Tim Kearns, Jim Williams, Ian Nichols or Angie (Canada)

Sustainability – Chair: Nolan Doesken. Members: Henry Reges, Chris Daly, Mary Knapp