No matter where you live in Illinois, the National Weather Service is seeking residents to be rainfall trackers.

The National Weather Service coordinates the website cocorahs.org, a rain, hail and snowfall tracker across the country. Chris Miller with the National Weather Service in Lincoln calls their participants 'citizen scientists'.

Spotters are asked to use a rain gauge through the National Weather Service. Miller explains the rain gauge is a minimal expense and makes sure everyone's reporting tools are uniform.

Using cocorahs.org data has become a regular part of live WHOW programming in the morning. Miller says you will be surprised how you find a tracker will report one total, perhaps sizeable, and another tracker not far away will report a much smaller amount.

Even if someone near you tracks rainfall, Miller says it is not an issue to have another person tracking in that area. 

Visit cocorahs.org - c-o-c-o-r-a-h-s dot org - for the latest in rainfall totals or to learn more about becoming a rain tracker.