Rain!

Got a real July rarity, a two day soaker! It never ceases to amaze me that I can water all day and all night and barely keep stuff alive, and yet a good rain renews everything so much better.

Hoping that Guy got some too. The radar I looked at earlier seemed like that was a good possibility.

Scott

We still have green grass here in Montana on the foothills and mountains. Usually we are brown and smoke filled. Rain about every 4 th or 5th day. Yahoo. Now when my wife and I are leaving for 2 weeks we will probably go over 90 and look out garden.

No rain here and none on the radar!

Eq - no rain? I'll share. I just emptied my rain gauge this evening and I had over 3.5 inches in the past 3 days. And that was with sunflowers crowding the gauge so I bet it was more than that. The water is just standing in the lawn - it has nowhere to go.

We have been declared a federal disaster area. FEMA is here. I'm ok but many around me are not. I have a lot of botrytis in the peonies and the azaleas have a fungus from the constant moisture. You can't walk in the gardens the ground is so saturated. We have very sandy free draining soil and it is very very odd to see the water at the surface of the soil. That has never happened here in anyones memory. I have a hard time enjoying the benefit the extra rain has been to a newly transplanted Weeping Higan when the neighbors garage a block over has water up to the windows. Weird and awful.

Condolences, both to those with too much and too little... Here in western NC, we're having our annual summer monsoon season: thunderstorms possible every day, and likely more often than not. Not a problem here, since it's the norm and we all plant accordingly. Good luck, all!

Snapple, I wished you could send some of it down here! We have large 50+ year old oaks and pines that are dying from the drought. Once a mature tree starts to turn brown from drought, is there any bringing it back when it rains? Or is it a lost cause?

Really sorry snapple and really sorry escambia. You two are dealing with what we had to deal with the last three years and it sucks.

Escambia, our neighbor saved a few of his 100-150 year old Bur oaks by literally putting a hose by them over night. He chose to water 7 of the oldest so that he could alternate watering one over night each night per week and then he started over again the next week. He did this all summer last year. My best guess is that each plant received about 500 gallons from sundown to sunup. Those 7 trees are doing remarkably well.

Good advice Equil - We had a terrible drought in 88. 1/2 inch of rain total the entire season. That drought came on the heels of two prior below average rainfall seasons. The slow hose soak does work. I still have my oaks, although they exhibited some die back in the next two years. These are huge oaks. I even managed to water my neighbor's fir trees in his front yard at night when he wasnt looking. This guy didn't give a whup and I couldn't stand to see them struggle so I would sneak the hose over late at night. He never noticed the green ring of grass around the perimiter in an otherwise totally brown dead lawn! We ran water every night somewhere for over two months. Luckily they never put a ban on watering in our town although some around us did. Do the hose thing. It works.

Having spent most of my adult life in animal agriculture, I have often looked upward in times of feast or famine. My last farm was slightly rolling in order to drain and to relieve pressure on the animals foot problems in wet situations. I can feel for Guy however, because there is nothing worse that drought. Trucking water to thirsty animals, buying feed and fodder because nothing is growing to sustain them, not over the winter you understand, but even in the months when the land should feed them and provide. Three years brought me to my knees and the FHA stepped in and sold my home and business. Let it rain folks, the alternative is misery. Ken

Hi -- I'm back, for a moment, before heading up to Chicago. We have had about one inch total since an average April, following a very dry winter and a near-record drought in 2005. The creek dried up this year the earliest it ever has, including 2005 and 1988 -- it stopped flowing on 2 July. (And it's shown on the USGS map as a permanent stream.)

Then we got 3 inches Wednesday -- in one hour! Major erosion, the creek was roaring 10 feet deep (bank full), water in the basement, etc. The next day, the creek was back down to 6 inches anf falling. But at least a little of it soaked in.

Back on the Dark Side, I had started some "Dang Continental Climate" threads a couple of years ago. I'm beginning to conclude that I need to revise that to "Dang Climate Destabilization." I feel for all of you, whether plagued by drought, flood, hurricane, or any other climate irregularities. It all hurts.

Guy S.

Floods (and drought) are part of nature. What isn't part of nature is acres and acres of asphalt parking lots. No amount of retention ponds or detention ponds, regardless of how well designed, can truly balance the excess runoff. Think about that the next time you head to Wal*Wort or Home Despot. If you are parking there ,or anywhere similar, you are part of the problem.

It's true that our species population explosion and its concommitant developments have exacerbated the severity of flooding, just like slash-and-burn agriculture by too many people is destroying much of the tropics. But the recent trends toward record-breaking temperatures, storms, precipitation events, and droughts are a scary sign of what we are doing to our atmosphere.

Guy S.

I am firmly in your camp Guy. Climate processes are complex operating systems and humans are destroying the hard drive.

Mary

Just checked the weather radar, our 20% chance of rain is approaching 100%. A soaking round of thunderstorms is barreling right at us---again.

Mary

I think that greenhouse gases are not the only reason for higher temperatures. I think a large part of it is reflective heat from asphalt, dark colored roofing, dark colored cars, masonry, etc., etc.

It is my theory that the major greenhouse gas is water vapor. Maybe all the irrigation in the once dry desert areas is possibly evaporating and creating a elevation in green house gas? Lets see how many gallons are being sprayed and irrigated in Salt Lake, California, Arizona, Eastern Washington, Texas, .......... Just a thought.

Not to mention that volumes and volumes of water vapor evaporating from Lake Mead and a million other retention basins. I always see photos of these lakes baking in the desert and all I can think of is how much water must be lost.

Scott

Raining to beat hell outside right now. Love it!

Scott

Lets clean up the air and move people to Hmmmm there are too many to do such a thing. Maybe we need a bird flu epidemic? LOL

Sofer, I should have a very well thought out explanation for the water vapor effect on the greenhouse gases. However, I have forgotten all the atmospheric science classes I took at U of I. I took quit a bit. I would guess that the water vapor issues are more of a local impact than an actual global issue since the amount of water in the atmosphere is relatively constant on a global scale.

When will someone finally blow up that Glen Canyon Dam. Stupidest thing they ever built. They ruined some of the best of what Utah & Arizona had to offer (for my generation at least). Silt, drought, and or flood will take care of that thing in due time.

Equil, where in IL are you? I have gotten a lot of rain this year and have only had to water a handful of times besides some newer plants exposed to the hot western sun.

Water is coming into the garage. We are getting two inches an hour. It is supposed to rain off and on until midnight. And two by two they went onto the ark. Man the mops. At least I have a bevy of submersible pumps left over from ponds that were enlarged over the years. Time to hook em up.

That may have been true in the 60's and 70's but the balance of water to those states is radically different and the amount of desert and irrigated ground has changed substantially to provide the atmosphere with significantly more water at much higher levels. IE those gasses that hold in the heat. Think about humidity in the moister areas. IE mid west. most of the moisture is held at the ground. IE 90%humidity and a few thunder storms when it is sucked up to 35,000 ft. I'm talking 2% humidity in 115 F temps drives that moisture up to 40,000 Ft before it vaporizes and then it stays up there for a much longer time. The green house glass over a large part of the planet. That is how the oceans warm up and do the repeated el nino.

I still think the only increase in atmospheric water vapor on a global scale can be attributed to the increased pumping of ground water and the increase in available water from ice melting in the glaciers and poles. I will give you the local effect totally especially in desert areas, but globally I think it is still pretty much the same amount of water vapor. Maybe I have just been out in the sun and heat too much today.

Bill

We FINALLY got a good heavy rain today. I just hope it's not too late for some of the drought stressed trees that have started defoliating.

We've gotten over 12" of rain in the last three weeks. Last week we had flooding all along the Delaware
and Lehigh Rivers in this area. I planted & moved a bunch of perennials and put in a tree at the end
of June, worrying if it was a really bone headed thing to do heading into the heat & dry of July BUT what
a brilliant move it was. Moma Nature is taking care of all my transplants.

But all the peonies around here are grey-white from fungal attack.

Tam

I'll take botrytis in the peonies anyday compered to FEMA, which has opened up shop here! We are finally drying out. Four floods in three weeks. I know what you mean about the bright side though. For reasons too long to explain here I had an 8 caliper inch Weeping Higan planted June 27th. I was really worried about making the move when it was fully leafed out, but Mother Nature has done the job. I don't think the cherry even knows it was moved because of the 9 inches of rain. There are still challenging days ahead though. Keeping it watered through the traditionally hot dry days of July and August and/or keeping the water out of the house.

Mary

Tammy, the Schuylkill river was 20 feet above flood stage here in Pottstown. They were calling for 28', but it didn't happen. The grass is green though. Yes we have botrytis and FEMA here,too. Lucky I don't need their help, just 3" of water in the basement. The sump pump works, it just couldn't keep up. In this neighborhood there's maybe 4" of clay "topsoil", then that brick red shale you have to bust up with a pickaxe, not too absorbent...

Here's my greenhouse from Ivan in 2004. This is the worst I've ever had it.

Ouch- what a mess. It looks like the building held up okay (I hope) That is/was a really nice greenhouse. We got another 3/4 inches of rain last night, power went out for a while, lots 'o lightning...

Oh - the greenhouse cleaned up w/o any issue. It was just a huge mess.
Tam

I had a good laugh at Snapple cause I know what she means about FEMA--the biggest bumblers on the planet (next to the USACOE, that is).
An insurance adjustor that I meant with Friday for damages from HURRICANE KATRINA (finally) was leaving for Ohio and parts therein to handle claims of the flooding.
We had a much needed rain today of about 2 inches with lots of wind and lightning. I hope the rain continues slowly all night so it has a chance to soak in the ground.

When I was a kid in Wash.D.C., FEMA was commonly referred to as 'feeble'. Back then, it was because they were under funded and had no real power. Now...

The only hurricaine I didn't survive was my first wife and FIMA didn't give me anything. It was the best learning experience of starting over I ever had.

After last year's 100-year drought, you will never hear me complain about too much rain--ever. If I was floating away like Noah, you wouldn't hear a peep. Too much rain is soooo much better than no rain at all. We got a half inch last night, and it's still raining, and life returns to my yard after a week of brutal heat and dryness. Ahhhhhhh....

During Tuesdays rain I could almost hear the trees going gulp gulp gulp gulp ahhhh LOL