Citizen science in rural Australia

 Here's a charming report out of remote South Australia by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation:  

When rainfall strikes, the first question many people ask is 'how many millimetres did you get?'

And for thousands of volunteer rainfall recorders across the country, it is their job to measure and record the rainfall for their region and report it back to the Bureau of Meteorology.

The rainfall tally is not only used for up-to-date information, but it forms a record of Australian weather patterns.

Austen and Thelma Eatts are both 91 years old and live on a property in the farming district of Kelly, just down the road from Kimba, on South Australia's Eyre Peninsula.

Their family has been recording rainfall for the bureau since 1918 — a total of 102 years.