Weather: June, Headlong into SUMMER!, 1 by PrissyJo

PrissyJo wrote:
Hi everyone~~

It's hard to believe, again, the flooding some of you have, the cool and rainy weather some of you have, and the drought and heat that some of us have. I think flooding would be the worst, or the tornadoes, because people are losing everything, including their lives in some cases.

My county has been officially named a disaster by the US Dept of Agriculture. But, what does that mean? I don't really think they know how to make rain clouds. One year without a drop of moisture. Does it mean they will pay the commercial farmers that couldn't grow anything? They named it a disaster area because of the drought, high winds and wildfires. But the heat itself is debilitating. It was 85 degrees this morning at 3 am. It's already 90 at 5am. Yesterday was 114.7. UV index still off the charts at 12+.

One of the worst things is the older and younger people, and the animals. The vets have reported being swamped with dogs and cats with burned paws and heat stroke and are warning people not to walk their dogs on any pavement or sidewalk. Luckily I have a fenced yard so my little guys can sneak outside and do their business on the grass. The people are experiencing dizziness, headaches and weakness before the heat strokes. I'm having to wear one of those cooling bandanas around my neck and on my forehead INSIDE even though we have central heat/air. It's the people that don't have it who are suffering the most. Some of them aren't making it, some are just suffering and doing the best they can. But when it's 114 in the shade and the dry ground is bouncing the heat back up to you, you can't get much relief. The people who have to go out in the sun are being severely warned not to. It's like stepping into an open fire.

July is our "monsoon" season. We usually get five inches of rain, used to be 10, in that month, but the drought has been going on for so long now that people say, yeah, we got 10 inches.... one drop here and one drop ten inches over here.... but this year, there's no rain at all predicted so far, just the continuing heat.

I've been out watering this morning with a flashlight. Again, I'm so surprised and grateful that we still have city water.

Our front and back screened porches were completed yesterday and they're beautiful. I haven't been able to go outside and clean them like I want to though.... maybe today.

It's harsh. The river flowing through the town is dried up. The nature preserve lake is dried up. The other lake we have is being fed by a well, pumping water in to try to keep the stocked fish alive.