AcuRite 5" Capacity Easy-to-Read Magnifying Rain Gauge, Acrylic (00850A3)

This magnified rain gauge is a fantastic tool for anyone who needs to quickly and easily check rainfall measurements. The magnified display lives up to its promise, making it visible even from a distance, which is incredibly convenient.Installation is a breeze thanks to its screw-on design, allowing for secure attachment to a fence or other suitable surface. It performs its primary function flawlessly, accurately measuring rainfall.The main drawback, particularly for those in hot climates like Texas, is its durability. The gauge tends to crack after approximately three years when exposed to the intense Texas heat. We’re overall pleased with the purchase, especially given its affordable price point and clear visibility.

It’s cheap and it’s magnified so the inches at the bottom are wider than an inch which is a bit funny as visually it seems like it rained a lot but it’s because it’s magnified and it is a inch tall but would only be half a inch of rain.It started staining at the bottom with residue and needless to say it’s impossible to clean down there.

Pros - large numbers for ease of reading, easy to install, the mouth to catch rain is bigger than most, inexpensiveCons - doesn't last long (about a year). However, we live in a hot climate, so they crack pretty easy.We purchased our first one a few years ago. When it cracked and leaked after about a year, we bought a different brand. Apparently, they all last about that long. We are back to buying this one because of the pros mentioned above.

So much better than a little one or one that hangs in the air. Seems easy to use. I don't know how accurate it is because I don't have a second to judge it from. I love the blue color and size. I had one before and something happened to it. I take it in over the winter. I don't want it to freeze. Just a suggestion.

Easy to read at distance, lasts a few yrs b4 the plastic starts getting cloudy. Very good for the price

Do not listen to what people say about this rain gauge it is accurate it did not leak unless it was misused and you can not measure it with a tape measure I’m still laughing at that one a great unit

Wanted something I could use to measure how much water my sprinklers delivered over a set time and this gauge did exactly that.

update #2, 2/17/25 (down to 3* now): Well, it happened again. As amazon reminds me atop this webpage, I've now bought this rain gauge FIVE times since 2017 (when we moved to rain country). ... I did remember my self-message in my last update (below) to never leave it out in an ice storm, but now I learn that much less than an ice storm can cause the gauge to crack and leak. All we had was 1" or so of 'winter mix' snowfall last week with temps around freezing, no 'storm' at all, just routine winter, and snow fell into the gauge and apparently froze overnight and we woke up to it cracked and leaking. This time i'm adding a photo and a Columbo-ilke detection of where the culprit lies - in bad manufacturing and/or design that keeps breaking at the same place in each gauge i've bought. Because it is otherwise a great gauge, easily readable across the patio from inside the kitchen window, i keep overriding Einstein's mantra ("Insanity is ...") and thinking there must be exceptions but alas ...Notice in the photo where you can see the cracking at below the 1/2' line on the gauge on its left side - same place it's cracked and leaked each time. Apparently there's no reason why such a gauge should have to be welded at all, it could be produced in a mold so as to be one seamless piece of plastic and avoid these frailties that have now made me invest in it 5 times. What's a rain gauge if you have to take it in every winter for months i guess to keep it from cracking and becoming useless??To the Manufacturer: Stop making your plastic the way you do! Find a way to make it one piece, no welding, no seams.update Aug 2024 (down to 4*): Surprised to find i'd already reviewed this as reviewing is rare for me.I've just now bought my 3rd one of these because hope springs eternal. I still see it as a great gauge UNTIL an ice storm hits. I tried the techniques advised here after my 1st one shattered/imploded/cracked in an ice storm in early 2023. That technique obviously didn't work because we had it shatter in an ice storm in Jan '24 and only got one year's use out of it i now realize.The TRICK (we will hopefully remember) is: DON"T LEAVE THIS OUT IN AN ICE STORM. TAKE IT INSIDE.earlier review:We've tried several gauges of varying types and this one, bought here in 2017, was my favorite by far - stuck in a medium size pot of soil sitting on the patio outside the kitchen window, it makes for easy reading from inside.However, we've now learned the hard way that there's a precaution you have to take if you ever have freezing temps: We had an ice storm here in January, which I didn't even think about breaking the gauge until I realized after that it kept saying 1" of rain despite new rains happening ...I see Q&As now posted in the interim since I bought ours here with one suggestion from Tom Terry in 2019 that sounds reliable (as he learned to do it for a government job reading lots of gauges) and worth trying that will simply convert it from a 5" gauge to a 4" gauge: "Add some antifreeze then a thin layer of mineral oil to each gauge which equaled one inch on the gauge. Then i had no freezing and no evaporation between reading..."I was back here for the same one again and giving it still 5* even before seeing that advice but now I feel ready to get 10+ years out of it instead of five :-)