An Inch of Rain

Consider one inch of rain falling onto one acre of land. Is that a lot of rain? How many gallons of water fell, and how much does the rainfall weigh? Yes, that is an immense amount of rain because it equals about 27,000 gallons which weighs approximately 113 tons. Yes, one hundred thirteen tons of water. Now expand that one inch of rainfall to a neighborhood, a city, or a county. If you could gather one inch of rain falling on the county in which I live, the water would fill a gigantic box 1,073 feet to a side; that would be a box three and one-half football fields long, wide, and high, holding 9.4 billion gallons. A city of half a million people, consuming 100 gallons per person per day, would require half a year to consume that box of water; filled from one inch of rain.