We woke up last night to the sound of rain--real rain, not some little mist or a spit and splat. We got just about an inch of rain and I can hear the lettuce and broccoli giggling! Thank heavens-rain!
We have rain, too. Lots and lots of it. We estimate 2 1/2 or 3 inches. It really came down and there was thunder and lightning. It lasted almost 4 hours. My lettuce is growing as I watch it. dooley
When it rains it pours. Goodness!! From drought to deluge. Break out the row boats. Well I'm glad it's raining there, perhaps it will help the towns that are running out of water. Jerry
We got about 1/2 inch, I would have thought it to be more since we were getting some heavy down pours too but nope, it wasn't a steady downpour but came in waves over about 6 hours. This rain will certainly help flower gardens but really does nothing to help the water supplies of towns. Most of the water supply lakes are 6 feet to 20 feet below normal. This all soaks into the parched ground, what we need is about 20 inches (not all at once ) that will replenish the ground water and create run off that will start filling up the lakes that are the water supplies.
The roads are muddy and slippery but there are three sunny days ahead which will return them to their dry dusty state. Rain is in the forecast for Saturday. Rain seems to come in spots here and skips around a bit. Yesterday they had rain half a mile from us and we were still dry and dusty. Today, we had rain and though they had rain half a mile from us, not as much as we had. Last week it rained in town and left puddles and we didn't get a drop. So, it's hit or miss and mostly it's miss. dooley
I'm just hoping that the rain we got here at my office is heading eastbound to my house! But... no matter where it's raining in Texas.. it's definitely needed. Lake Houston is up a bit, maybe 2-3 foot. I think it's mostly from the water they are releasing from the Lake Conroe dam... but recent rains have helped a bit too. A LONG way to go to end this drought.
Groesbeck, a town near us, has water enough until Dec. 3. After that if nothing is done, they will be out of water. The plan now is to lay three miles of pipe to circumvent the Lake Parker reservoir and let the Navasota river flow downstream to the municipal water intake. The reservoir is so low that water can't be pumped over the dam. Adding water to the reservoir from the river doesn't work because it evaporates faster than they can pump it in. We are lucky here in that we are using ground water, not reservoir water. But I'm still conserving like mad (gets me out of washing dishes, clothes, and floors!).
Our neighbors have a shallow well which has gone dry as the water table dropped. They have four kids and have been hauling water from her mom's house every day. They buy bottled water to drink and cook. They borrowed a small drilling rig and have been working a couple of weeks now to make a deeper well. Our water comes from a well up the hill which is very deep and has water so our landlord has let them get water from our outside tap to carry them over when they can't get to her moms. The drought just affects everyone around you even if it isn't affecting you right now. Conservation is a good thing and not just for water. I'm glad we got rain and even though the sky is still gray it's a good day. dooley
WOW!!! Jumping for joy for all of you. Dooley your landlord is a gem to allow them to get water there. I feel so bad for all of you when all it does here is rain and we are SO tired of it. There is no understanding of this other than the regular cycle of weather and we aren't used to it. My Grandma lived until she was 92 and often remarked that the weather sure wasn't like it was when she was a child. She was used to snow, snow and more snow during the winters here in Ohio. When I was a child we hardly ever had snow. Now it is snow snow and more snow. I sure wish we could send all our extra moisture your direction. I would be jumping for joy to do that. The one benefit I did notice this year (I think it was from the rain) was that we had nearly no japanese beetles. Most years we have sooooo many that the raspberries are unpick-able during August, as the beetles destroy EVERY berry in all the rows. I sure hope you all get enough to fill your reservoirs and then a little more.
Checked my rain gauge when I got home... 1.5 inches of rain! woohoo! ( photo / image / picture from cherylad's Garden )
They had a story about Groesbeck on the national news this mormimg. They talked about their water problems. I was on CBS.
Dooley--I hope your neighbors' well-digging pays off. I can't imagine having to haul water every day. Imagine how much they need to haul if they have kids? And you said 4 kids? That is a lot of water.
Glad you got some much needed rain. We should all hold hands and pray people who need it. Get nice Good soaking rains.
