It is recommended that the user of such data keeps this information in mind when accessing precipitation totals. The exposure of the rain gage is extremely important in determining the precipitation total. Sometimes, man-made obstructions, or the natural environment may inhibit the precipitation from being collected in the gage by deflecting precipitation due to erratic wind. Thus, the location's gage may not be in an area most suitable for accurate results. Also, it is important to keep in mind the possible precipitation variability within a single storm.
Total accumulation can vary by as much as several inches in just a few hundred yards.
The best way to check on an area's precipitation accumulation is to use a doppler radar estimate. Finally, during extreme precipitation events it is possible that a rain gage's measuring buckets may be overflowed and thus an accurate measurement is not taken. The gage, knowing how much liquid can be contained within the bucket records that amount of precipitation. However, during an extreme event the rate of rainfall may be too great that while one bucket is tipping and another is taking its place preciptation may be missed. This problem is accentuated when dealing with the observation of minimum temperature.