Same here, average rainfall for June is 4.19 inches. This year we are still less than 0.1 inches. Dryest May and June I have ever encountered.
No Rain!
So you didn't get any last night either? We saw it go south of us and slightly north. We always seem to be the hole in the middle.
overcast
My weather watcher application just popped up this:
ALERT 1 - Severe Thunderstorm Watch
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL 6:00PM CDT
Issued: Sunday, June 29, 2008 11:45 AM EDT
Expires: Sunday, June 29, 2008 7:00 PM EDT
Back to Summary
THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH UNTIL 6:00PM CDT
Sel7 Spc Ww 291548
Urgent - Immediate Broadcast Requested Severe Thunderstorm Watch Number 637 Nws Storm Prediction Center Norman OK 1050 AM CDT Sun Jun 29 2008
The Nws Storm Prediction Center Has Issued A Severe Thunderstorm Watch For Portions Of
Large Part Of Southern Alabama Large Part Of Florida Panhandle Southwest Georgia Parts Of Southeast Mississippi Coastal Waters
Effective This Sunday Morning And Evening From 1050 AM Until 600 PM CDT.
Hail To 1.5 Inches In Diameter...Thunderstorm Wind Gusts To 70 Mph...And Dangerous Lightning Are Possible In These Areas.
The Severe Thunderstorm Watch Area Is Approximately Along And 60 Statute Miles North And South Of A Line From 30 Miles Northwest Of Pine Belt Mississippi To 20 Miles Northeast Of Valdosta Georgia.
I hope some of you get some rain today, you make me feel guilty for being happy about rain.
We got close to half an inch last night. It's overcast and cool today so the moisture is holding on the ground. Such a relief to have a day off from watering.
got some and looks like more to come :)
It's raining again right now. Not huge, but steady. Lots of thunder too. I'm thrilled.
Laurel
Not much here. Thunderstorm heading this way. Hopefully rain will come.
weve had lots! :)
Looks like its passing us by - again :-(
Got a little but not much.
Wow, finally - got at leat an inch this evening, thank goodness! My 250 gal tank is brimming over!
LOL. Azalea... You sound like me. I got 50 five gallon buckets scattered all over the place to catch rain and not even a good swallow in each of them. Have to put them together and see which one plant looks the thirstiest.
We had gotten just a quick tiny shoer that I stayed out in it and continued pulling weeds. felt good to feel the rain for a change. Was suh a little amount didn't eveven have to change clothes. Soon as it stopped the sun came out and dried it up.
Maypop, when the water company cam ein they made a deal with the county that if they supplied us with water that nobody could have wells.
Thre used to be a natural spring in the property up behind me and it dried up at some point, so I wondering if I can even find water now.
Water bills wil be arriving today or tommorrow and I sure don't want to see mine. ( cringe)
This weekend up around Yorkville we finally, finally got some rain. For the past 6+ weeks it's been thunder & nothing, or perhaps 30 individual drops a couple of times, just enough to taunt. Of course I'd watered Sat morning (even house #) but I certainly don't mind the additional water. Sat evening & last night both, two good downpours of perhaps an hour each.
MaypopLaurel, we have a cistern as well (a pump room rather than a submersible pump, same water containers downstairs in case of power outage!) but mid-summer last year, alarmed at the continued drop in water pressure in the house, we had the county run a waterline to our house. The water in the cistern can still be accessed, so I'm told, but I'm holding onto it as a last resort. My husband thinks it's empty but I don't think water could leach out--could it? The springs feeding our lake have dried up; they'll be back, Gods willing, when the rains return. Assuming.
It is really bad this year with the drought starting so early. We finally got 0.1 inch Yesterday. Only need 4.09 inches today to catch up with average June rainfall. Does not look as if any rain is in sight tho. Settled the dust for a minute or two, but this morning, no evidence that it ever rained. Not even the peas can handle this.
We got enough last night here in Barnesville to see results this a.m. Farmer Dill, those peas look mighty good!! Hope you'll get some rain soon.
For us in the CSRA the drought is worse this year than last because high temperatures and lack of rainfall have begun so early. Water restrictions are still less than in other parts of Georgia because we share our water with South Carolina, just across the river, where they don't have ANY!
It rained from 4 pm until 9:30 pm. I have some trays around the garden and it looks like we got about 3/4" rain. I thought perhaps everyone would get a good soaking yesterday (least I was hoping for you).
Judith, county water is not an option here. We are wayyy back in the woods. Our cistern is not like the new plastic ones. it is concrete with a gravel bottom. I have to pull a heavy concrete lid and climb in it every few years and shovel out the mud and silt that settles. :) Must be that mud that makes the water extra good. lol. Anyway, the water is filtered up at the house. We switched to a submersible pump after several in our well house got blasted in electrical storms. As for drying out...I don't know there is an overflow outlet that could allow for evaporation of sorts if there is no inflow but I think there should be something. You'll have to climb in with all the salamanders like I do.
Laurel
Hey Y'all..
Judith, you don't happen to know a Tom Pritchett that lives in Rockmart do you? He was my marketing prof at KSU. I met my husband after he chased me down in the parking lot after the final exam.
:)
Susan
Well I talked to the county
I understand the billing now. They apply a surcharge if you greatly exceed your average winter usage. So I understand how they came up with the bill.
But then I told the representative that I have a working farm on my property and was there another rate structure for my situation. You could have heard a pin drop on the other end of the line. After several seconds of silence, I explained to the rep that I am the manager of our local farmers market and I do indeed grow crops on my property and our water usage went up because...well we had crops in the ground.
She didn't have an answer and needs to check with someone and get back with me.
Interesting how a lot of municipalities especially suburban ones are all jumping on the "buy local", organic food bandwagons yet they are actually shocked when they find a farmer in their midst.
BB
BB
Check out the water dept. website. http://www.gwinnettcounty.com/cgi-bin/gwincty/egov/ep/gcbrowse.do?channelId=-536881961&pageTypeId=536880236
It has surcharge examples. I was looking for rates for non-residential customers, but didn't see anything about that.
Becky
BB looks like your irrigation water could fall under item 1 ( Seasonal irrigation and builders) Probably would require a separate meter
LOL BB.. Thanks for the chuckle this morning. That so funny. Can't wait to hear what they tell ya.
BB.. it is amazing how many folks it takes to get to the right person sometimes.. before we got our well, a gal at the water department was trying to tell me that i had to follow the same water restrictions as everyone using county water. I asked her what the point was in getting a well and why everyone was doing it then and she was silent. Went over her head and got the right answer and informed him he might want to educate his CS people on it.
Well I heard back.
The rep told me there are no special rates covering my situation :-(. Gotta factor in this water bill into my budget now. Not irrigating is not an option.
And after she told me that there was nothing she could do, she DID say that everyone at the water department wanted to know where we were located so they could come buy veggies!
BB
BB.. Don't know if it would help or not but you might call the GA. national farm bureau.
here a link..
http://www.gfb.org/about.htm
You also might call the GA department of AG. Here their number. 404-656-3689.
They may know something that the water company doesn't. Esepcially since over the years you wil be increasing yoru business and needing more and more water.
never hurts to call and ask if they can help. I sure at some point or another there may have been somebody havign the same problem as you.
Maybe they could help ya with the water company like FamerDill suggested and get a seperate meter in for the gardening section where ya wouldn't have them extra taxes.
Thanks Starlight
I will check them out
BB
Woo, hoo! It's raining in Winterville! The last rainfall we had was one day last week. I emptied my two 30 gallon rain barrels on Wednesday so I was hoping for more rain soon. I'll have to check my rain gauge later to see how much we received.
It's been pretty bad here in Winterville as far as the drought goes. We're only 12 minutes from Athens where my husband works and he'll call me to let me know it's raining there. I'll tell him it isn't raining here and most of the time it will just bypass us. One day I drove through downtown Winterville at five points where it was raining, but by the time I got home...not even a mile...it was not raining and did not rain here at all! Bummer!
I'm going out to "smell" the rain now. :-)
JoAnn
YAY........finally..........YAY..............RAIN!!!!!!!! I hope everyone else got some ..yesterday. It first rained about 2pm then last night a serious thunderstorm/rain. I'm sure not everyone was pleased...especially those celebrating the 4th, however, no complaints from anyone with a garden.
Still no rain for us!!!! We were teased by clouds but the rain stopped about 5 miles to the west of us and a new storm formed to the east ... then it rained south of Augusta last night. I feel we are in the opposite of the rain cloud cartoon that follows people around. Bummer!
DH checked the raingauge last night and said we received about 1/4" and my rain barrels are full again. Yippee! Watched the weather forecast last night and it's showing scattered thunderstorms for the whole week. Hope they come our way!
JoAnn
Do ya think if I stomped my feet and threw a tantrum like a five year old it would help to get some rain here? Like you Art gal. I am so tire dof being teased by the clouds and the winds.
heard somethign on tv one time from the weatherman that he said if your area is dry it hard for the rain to come cuz there is no moisture in the ground and the rian goes where moisture is at.
Guess I gonna be bone dry for ite awhile yet. It been thundering on and off for th epast hour, but the sun shining just as pretty as all get out and I watchign the clouds go sailing by me yet again. : (
Yep same here. clouds get close enough to hear thunder and thats about it.
Not near you all, but we've had severe drought here as well. We belong to a local CSA (community supported agricultue). Two weeks ago, their white board at the pick up cooler said "Do a Rain Dance". Last week it said "Keep Dancin". Friday night and last night we finally got a little rain. This morning it was foggy and drippy and coolish until near noon. It was so gray and misty, we took our tea out on the porch and just sat there enjoying the weather. Funny how a little rain can make you feel giddy.
That's the truth Pamgarden! A little rain for my birthday thrilled me. We got a quick drenching here in Sandy Springs around 2:30. Looks like maybe a quarter inch in a pan outside. Cleveland, GA also got a bit earlier today. Maybe we'll all get lucky over the next few days. I'm hoping.
Laurel
Wow - we finally got a nice downpour here for about 2 1/2 hours! Yippee! I have been out of town all week and was getting worried, except that my nice neighbor watered for me once while we were gone. Eveything looks so fresh again just in time.
Rain - at last! I'm so happy - perhaps now I can go in the garden without feeling quite so depressed. On our evening walk we've not only noticed quite a few dead trees and bushes but several smells of dead animals. This is unusual and I wonder if it is squirrels or something dying through lack of water.
We complain about prices rising - the cost of gas and food - all very important, but this just shows that it is water that is the most precious commodity of all.
I have posted our dire situation on the N.E. forum where I have several friends. I'm not sure they get it as they are inundated with rain, slugs, mushrooms and weird molds. I have expressed the thought that water is a commodity. Too much may cause challenges for the farmer or gardener. Too little means severe compromises to crops and damages to gardens. I am hoping, and thinking, from something I saw a while back that this third year of our drought cycle will be the last.
Laurel
Saw some lightning on the way home from Cobb County tonight, so I hope there are rain in sight. We've been getting some rain, whether light or heavy every few days. We too have mushrooms in our front yard. I am definitely not complaining about the rain as we had bad drought last summer!
Laurel - After I made my post I did consider that there are some people in the north who are currently seeing water as anything but a blessing. As you point out, it is a matter of correct quanitities. I hope you are correct about it being the last year of the drought.