Rain cometh

ERNIEB · Aug 30, 2001

After 2 months without a drop, finally rain/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif Yesterday just about all day, a slow steady soaking kind od rain/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif I won't be working much for the next few days, but we sure needed it. Rain and baby calves are always welcomed here/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif It's been coming down on and off today as well. We are under flash flood watch, so I guess I'll just stay home and enjoy it. Cooler temps are nice too. Folks, I guess summer is just about over.

Ernie

Bird · Aug 30, 2001

Me, too, Ernie./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif About .16" one day, .36" another, and light rain again today. I love it!/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Just light showers off and on so far today, but over one inch./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

BirdEdited by Bird on 08/30/01 01:30 PM (server time).

geneP · Aug 30, 2001

Bird, what are you using to masure rain to the hundredth of an inch? I'm lucky to get it to the nearest tenth!

I'm not trying to gloat because we've had lots of rain, but the weatherman says we have a chance at breaking the all time record for rainfall in August here in central Mississippi. We've already got third wettest locked in.

Bird · Aug 30, 2001

Gene, actually my little rain gauge is marked for tenths and a mark half way between the tenths, so I just guesstimate in between the marks. Ain't that what the professional weathermen do?/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bird

Anonymous Poster · Aug 30, 2001

Bird,

guesstimate...Ain't that what the professional weathermen do?

Professional weathermen may flip coins, count cricket chirps and measure the stripes on wooly caterpillers, but they never guesstimate. I learned this on TV so it must be true. /w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

PitbullMidwest

RPM · Aug 30, 2001

We just moved on to a drought watch in the SE corner of PA. Supposedly about 3" behind where we should be to date.

ERNIEB · Aug 30, 2001

Bird, I heard a guy on the radio today said he had an electronic rain gauge that measured total rainfall, and inches per hour. Never heard of such a thing myself.
We had a downpour today, a real frog strangler. I've got several gulleys across my driveway/w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif The problem was with the soaking rain yesterday, the downpour today mostly ran off. Filled up the stock tanks/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif
As far as my driveway goes I got a couple of things in my favor. It should start clearing tomorrow, my wife is off tomorrow,so she doesn't have to go any where, and I just happen to have a pile of base and a TC29D with a fel/w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Ernie

Bird · Aug 30, 2001

Ernie, I've noticed the weather forecasters on the TV sometimes mention the amount of rain per hour, but I don't know what kind of equipment they're using. All I've seen was light showers, but went to town this morning (20 miles) and when we got back, a neighbor called my wife and said we had a brief downpour while we were gone, so just over an inch. No run off or puddles to amount to anything, but did fill some of the smaller cracks in the ground. Have fun tomorrow.

Bird

Anonymous Poster · Aug 30, 2001

The sophisticated weather centers used at airports and such have a little bucket that collects rain. Once the bucket 'fills' with 1/100th of an inch of water, it tips itself over, "clicks" a counter and resets itself upright. Of course, all this is hooked to a computer to measure the exact times of the "clicks".

They often have another gauge for heavy downpours. Its less accurate but the tiny bucket goes nuts during some storms.

mikim · Aug 30, 2001

we can figure amount of rain fall per, by how many tips of the bucket we get in a certain time frame. It's a 2 sided bucket on a center pivot. Each side holds exactly .01 inch then it tips, empties the full side and brings up the 2nd side to fill and each time it tips it passes a magnetic pickup that triggers a counter in the office. All ya gotta do is wait 10 minutes - figure the difference in the amount from start time to finish time - and multiply by 6 to get the per hour. It's an estimated 'cause sometimes it rains so fast that you lose some during the tips. The most accurate rain gauge we have is still the old 8" gauge. It's a funnel bucket 8" in diameter that funnels into a 2" tube that is about 24" long. ----- We use a ---ya ready?--- measuring stick stuck down into the tube to measure the water - write it down then empty the tube and wait for more rain. It's coming down like crazy right now - but the radar says it'll slow down soon. Suppose to keep raining through the weekend - so much for going to the country - again/w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif Those in the southern area can check out the NWS radars by going to www.srh.noaa.gov and look for the NWS office nearest you.
mike

Bird · Aug 30, 2001

Mike, you guys might be a little more accurate than I am./w3tcompact/icons/wink.gif I look at the radar frequently at weather.com and also at accuweather; I'll have to try your site.

Bird

mikim · Aug 30, 2001

ACCUWEATHER !! BLASPHEMER !! /w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif (They'd like to take over our operation ya know)
I just went there myself since I haven't looked at it for awhile and darned if they haven't updated the homepage since I was there last - you can go to any weather service office in the country from there. The other regions probably have it set up the same way. I also just went out to check my rain gauge since it has let up a good bit - over 9" since Monday and 4 of it since 5 o'clock this evening. --- about an inch per hr -- pretty typical tropical rain for the area. Lost power for the first time in 8 years for about 30 minutes this evening. Can't wait to retire and get out of this gulf basin. I'm afraid if the tropical rain don't git me the acid rain will (Chemical plants abound here ya know) shoulda made that site a link in previous - never have - here's tryin' http://www.srh.noaa.gov
mike

Bird · Aug 31, 2001

Mike, thanks for the url; I checked it last night and again this morning. I like that. I've not been too impressed with Accuweather myself. Weather.com (and noaa) sure have better looking maps for their radar. Weather.com even shows the lake across the road. And it seems for some reason or other, rain clouds tend to split and go around this area. Lots more rain both north and south of us./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif

Bird

RJohnson · Aug 31, 2001

ERNIEB,
I see that you are close to San Antontio, saw the live rescue on the new last night. I hope you are not getting that much water where you are. The weather map I look at shows more rain this morning for your area http://www.intellicast.com/Local/USLocalWide.asp?loc=kaus&seg=LocalWeather&prodgrp=RadarImagery&product=Radar&prodnav=none. This gives me a good view of the eastern half of Texas.

Bird,

When I want to look at a close up of your lake area I use http://wfaa.com/wfaa/weather/bigradar1.html. I think you have to register but it is a one time deal.

Stay dry guys it looks like the weather is going to be with us through the holiday weekend but more important, BE SAFE/w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif!

Randy

Bird · Aug 31, 2001

Yeah, Randy, you don't actually have to register; you can skip that. They just want you to register so they can send more advertising material./w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif Their map certainly looks a lot better than the nbc map.

Bird

ERNIEB · Aug 31, 2001

Well, yea I did get that much yesterday. Like I said I have about 3 gulleys 10 to 12 inches deep and about 12 to 14 inches wide going across my driveway. I did have the thing crowned with ditches on both sides. In 98 we had a 100 year flood and my driveway didn't wash like that.
As far as the live rescue goes. Last year I had a post about these low water crossings. It happens everytime we get a big rain. There are depth markers at most of these crossings, and the various depts get up barricades ASAP. The radio and TV stations beg people not to try to cross these things. there are stiff fines for going around barricades, and even stiffer fines for moving barricades. THe SA fire dept. has started charging people $400.00 per person to pluck them out.And still these IDIOTS try to cross I just don't know what else they can do to stop them. A couple of radio talk shows have been humiliating the guy who was driving the car calling him all kind of names/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Ernie

Bird · Aug 31, 2001

And still these IDIOTS try to cross/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Ernie, when I was a rookie cop, one night we had flooding in Dallas and with a major 6 lane thoroughfare under water, I had just stopped my squad car facing into traffic in the center lane of the 3 northbound lanes; headlights and roof mounted red lights on, blinking the headlights to stop traffic, etc. and one fool came sailing through, went around the squad car, down to the water's edge, got stopped, made a U-turn, came back, pulled up beside me, rolled down his window, and said, "Officer, did you know the road's under water down there?"/w3tcompact/icons/laugh.gif

Bird

RJohnson · Aug 31, 2001

ERNIEB,
The rain cometh and cometh and cometh. It has been raining steady all day here in Dallas. I want to know when it goeth/w3tcompact/icons/frown.gif so I can enjoy the three day weekend./w3tcompact/icons/smile.gif

Randy

Bird · Aug 31, 2001

And I only got .2" all day, while the TV news is showing the flooding north of us.

Bird

Harv · Sep 2, 2001

Out here in the somtimes too sunny California, we've had a mild winter and a warm summer, and the beginning of rainy season is still a month away. /w3tcompact/icons/cool.gif

As long as we don't run out of water altogether (which does happen sometimes), I have no complaints. That is, I have no complaints until I go up to the property and see our pond. Ponds are supposed to be wet, aren't they? /w3tcompact/icons/crazy.gif

Attached are two pictures of the pond, the top one taken last Thanksgiving and the bottom one taken yesterday (9/1/01). The good side is that this opens up opportunities to clean out debris and such. Heck, if it gets any lower, I plan to bring in a 'dozer and shore up the dam.