WAKEFIELD—March Madness isn’t limited just to basketball tournaments. The National Weather Service in Wakefield is looking for people whose hobby – obsession even – is the weather.

The agency needs people willing to keep score of any rain, sleet and snow falling in their own backyards. The information is posted at www.cocorahs.org, the website for the CoCoRaHS program, which is the Community Collaborative Rain, Hail and Snow network. In turn, this information is used by NWS meteorologists as well as other agencies or individuals who follow the weather.

The recruiting, which is part of a contest for NWS stations in the country, is done to fill in gaps of information.

“We do have fairly limited automated observations,” said Scott Minnick, a meteorologist at Wakefield. Airports are one example.

There are already several individuals throughout Virginia collecting weather information, he said, but added, “We absolutely need more people. You can never have enough data.”

“There are several counties throughout Eastern Virginia that have zero to less than five observers actively reporting,” said Bridget De Rosa, regional coordinator for the CoCoRaHS program.

“I do not have any active observers in Southampton County or the City of Franklin, which solidifies the need for more volunteers.

“Also, I do not have any observers in Windsor or Zuni,” she said.

Before anyone decides to volunteer, De Rosa urges them to visit the CoCoRaHS website to learn more. She can be contacted at 899-4200.