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.

 

[Bird]

The first 6 months of the year, we got an incredible amount of rain. In June, I got over 16" which put us at nearly 42" for the year. The newspaper said the DFW airport got 5.54" in July, but I only got 1.3" at my house. And so far this month I've gotten maybe .12". Tropical storm Erin flooded the San Antonio and Houston areas, apparently went around us, and flooded parts of Oklahoma. About .08" of the .12" I've gotten this month was Saturday afternoon, so I guess that was from Erin. Anyway, I'm watering the yard this morning . . . again.

 

[N80]

This year started off pretty good for us. We'e been in a relative drought for several years now but this spring and early summer the rains were spaced out very nicely. We weren't getting high totals but getting it when we needed it. And like others have mentioned, we hit late July/ early August and it just quit.

My yard is dry and cracked.

My dad tells a story that when we lived in Mississippi delta in the early 60's that there was a drought so bad that the ground had cracks in it so big that yard bird chicks were falling in them and dying. Sounds like a tall tale to me.

 

[schmism]

hot and dry in STL/southern IL....

getting rain today from left over Erin is rolling up from the Southwest...

In the past 6 weeks ive had a sum total of about a little over .5" in my rain guage.... usually a 1/10 at a time...

ground hard and cracked, grass is dorment, except for the stuff over the drain feild, i have a perfect 6' diam dead brown circle in my front yard... only have about 4-6" of dirt cover on the septic tank lid

 

[Loader]

lol

 

[3RRL]

I am in the Southern Sierra Nevada mountain range in California. It is usually hot and dry this time of year. We didn't get the snow pack like last year so our rivers are lower than normal. We have our own hard rock well and plenty of water though. Last year we had excessive 110F weather in the Summer, getting as high as 117F. Interestingly enough, this year the Summer is milder but still dry, of course. We have had a number of weeks in the mid to high 80's, like just this last weekend. It's usually over 100F in July and August and parts of September. I hope you (and us) get some rain soon.

 

[jimg]

Was just looking at the drought info for my area of TN and noticed its in the 'exceptional' zone. Hmmmm....hope we get the predicted rain this coming w/e.

Its odd how the grass goes dormant but the weeds continue to thrive.

 

[Tdog]

Yep, jimg, the 'exceptional' label is being used for a swath of the southeast, from Alabama through western Georgia & up into Tennessee.

And a first: Nothing in Texas shows up on the Drought Monitor!

Jack

 

[N80]

There is a band of thunderstorms headed this way this afternoon. It looks like it has made it past the mountains and looks like it may dip down into Rock Hill where I live. I hope it gets here. Unfortunately it will not come far enough south to get my property where my cabin and tractor are. I haven't been there in 4 weeks. I bet its a dust bowl.

 

[wushaw]

Yep, jimg, the 'exceptional' label is being used for a swath of the southeast, from Alabama through western Georgia & up into Tennessee.

And a first: Nothing in Texas shows up on the Drought Monitor!

Jack

I've got cracks up to an inch wide everywhere and I'm just south of Dallas.

I haven't had more than a trace in over a month.

 

[jimg]

N80...its raining cats/dog and blowing to beat the band in NC right now. Holy smoke...the pines look ready to snap off. LOL...its been a while since Ive seen sideways rain (or rain for that matter). Now, if we could shift that W a few hundred miles....looks like the WBIR w/e forecast is calling for a fairly good chance of rain. Hope that pans out!