Bone Dry

[TNhobbyfarmer]

Well here in Tennessee it is brutally dry and hot. People are feeding hay and it's not cheap, at least 2 to 3 times as high as in normal years, and that is if you can find any. I know from watching the national weather there are parts of the country that have gotten above normal rain all summer. Texas seems to have had too much. What's it been like in your neck of the woods? Dry, normal, wet? I would be curious about what's going on around the country.

 

[N80]

I'm more or less in the same neck of the woods as you, upper SC. This week will be the third in a row with three digit temps and its been longer than that since we've had decent rain.

I was watering some azaleas today (I've given up on the grass) and something green fell out of a crepe myrtle onto the azaleas. It turned out to be an anole that had jumped from the tree. It started drinking the drops on the azaleas immediately. It is about 9pm right now and it is 90 outside.

My B-I-L has a ranch (300 head) just below here. It has been hotter and drier there. He is on the verge of feeding hay too and he has gotten much less hay this year. Last year he had a surplus. This year he may not have enough to get through the winter if we don't get some rain and another cutting. There is no rain in the forecast outside of isolated thunderstorms for the next week.

 

[lug nut]

I'm over in Jackson, TN. It's as hot and dry as I can ever remember it being. I'm afraid to think how much it will cost to feed 5 horses this winter, and I know many people will have it much worse.

 

[Shimon]

It's been about average to maybe slightly higher than average rainfall in the Pacific NW this summer. But "wet" is the name of the game up here...actually the summers are pretty dry but the rest of the year it's wet.

 

[ScottOkla]

Another 2.5 inches today (NE OK), but it was the first in the last 40 days. Fortunately we had so much in June (about 15 inches) that the 40 days without rain and temps starting to get to 103 didn't have the impact it normally would.

1.5 years ago we had 7 months with only 5 inches total precip. This year we have had 5 inches almost every month. Next year will be your year.

 

[Dale_Alan]

Down here in Victoria Texas, between Houston and Corpus Christi, I am just over 61 inches for the year. No one can remember when the hay crop has been more abundant. Now if you are a corn or sorghum grower you are probably out of luck.
Farmers have been unable to get in for the harvest.
Dale

 

[hitekcountry]

Drought conditions for California this year are:
Northern cal = moderate 92%
Central Cal = Severe 65%
Southern Cal = Extreme 35%


I live in the mountains is Central Cal and in this area (most are on wells) itｴs not uncommon for my neighbors to be hauling in water at this time of year, more so this year. One neighbor drives to work with a 50 gal drum in the back of his truck. I'm sure he's hauling water home every day. Normal water deliveries come in 4000 Gal trucks, (see Pic) cost around $225 a truck load. Everyone up here has a storage tank that will hold at least that much water.

I'm fortunate I have two good wells, one 7 gal/m the other 1.5 gal/m, If you calculate that out that's 12,240 gal per day. I never need to haul in water.

There is one neighborhood nearby that is served by a water Co. and the residents there are being asked to limit there water usage to 250 gal per day per house. That's a problem because the average per person water usage in the US is 150gal/day.

 

[lug nut]

Hey, Dale, send some of that rain up this way.

We are way below normal precipitation for the year.

 

[jimg]

We were doing OK until Aug when it turned hot. The rain stopped at that point. Up to that point we'd get about 1"/week. The late day rains come right down the TN River which Im close to. Wished it would start again!

 

[randy41]

very dry and hot here too.