How is rainfall measured?

[rod stewart]

What does it mean when forecasters say it rained two inches? Did the sea level rise two inches or did a bucket in the Met Office garden fill up a bit?

[Isaacr]

Sea level fluctuations aren't directly related to rainfall, so your second guess of a bucket is nearer the mark. Of course they aren't really buckets. Rainfall is caught in standardised containers called gauges. Things are getting more sophisticated, though, wih rainfall being measured by radar, sonar and microphones which are used mainly in oceans where using a gauge is a little more difficult. Measuring rainfall must be relatively straightforward because you can volunteer to take readings outside your own home for the Met Office without having any formal qualifications.

[JoelBrewer44]

Rain is measured by, well there is a rain measurer that measures rain and that is how they know how much rain has fallen