Rainfall Cards
Rainfall cards are forms, varying between one per month and a year depending on location and time period.
They were completed by the observer tasked with emptying the rain gauge.
They record a variety of daily, weekly and monthly totals depending on how often the gauge was emptied. The cards are held in decadal boxes within which they are then arranged by location and year.
Example of a rainfall card
Most useful for
Rainfall cards are the original source of information for specific rainfall totals and will show Quality Control measures if these were applied once the form had been returned to the Met Office. A small minority of rainfall cards may also include notes on significant weather events.
Things to bear in mind
Although a reasonable amount of data can be recorded on each form this can still amount to a large number of bundles. You should bear this in mind if you are considering using these as a source of information for rainfall over a long period of time.
