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125 battery-operated radio transmitter to send reports to the central station. A radio "repeater relayed signals from the monitoring station to the central computer. The rain gauges were the standard tipping-bucket type used in ALERT systems; the buckets were sized to tip after 1 mm (0.04 inches) of rain had been collected through the 12-inch diameter rain collection orifice. As the bucket tipped and emptied its contents, a second bucket was positioned to receive the next 1 mm of rain. When the second bucket tipped, the first bucket returned to its original position to collect the next 1 mm increment. Each tip turned on a battery operated radio transmitter to send the data to the central computer. Rain gauges were located at Walker Basin, Back Canyon, Tollgate Lookout, Tehachapi, and Orejano Canyon. The weather station, located at Piute Peak, consisted of a tipping bucket rain gauge and meteorological sensor suite that reported wind speed, wind direction, temperature, relative humidity, and barometric pressure. A single stream gauge was located on Caliente Creek approximately one mile below the confluence of Tehachapi Creek and Caliente Creek. Stream level was measured by a pressure transducer located in the stream bed, which transmitted pressure readings to the central computer every 15 minutes. Radio signals from the monitoring stations in the Caliente Creek watershed were relayed to the central computer by a radio repeater located near Breakenridge Camp. The central computer was located at the offices of Kern County Communications Control 5, which maintained around-the-clock .. . " Farr and Curtis r operations Until 1995, the radio signals were also received at the local National Weather Service (NWS) office. However, the National Weather Service moved its local office to Hanford and no longer received these signals. Although there is no definite timetable, the NWS plans to install the necessary equipment to re-establish communications links with the Caliente Creek ALERT System, and the data will be used to support NWS forecast and warning operations. The central computer at Control 5 consisted of a personal computer using the National Weather Service's Hydromet software and the QNX Operating System. The central computer radio receiver/decoder package received signals relayed by the Breakenridge repeater, decoded the messages, checked the data quality, and stored the resulting rain, weather, and stream informa- tion on the computer's hard disk. The central computer continuously monitored the data to detect alarm conditions such as high rainfall rates or high stream elevations. When excessive rainfall or high water was detected, the computer sounded an ~ t , , l ,