Texas Fall/Winter thread!

[two_bit_score]

I was in Austin early in the day and San Antonio later and it's been raining off and on all around today. Rained so hard i skipped happy hour at Gruene Hall.

Hope to go to Enchanted Rock with my grandson if it doesn't rain tomorrow. If it does rain we'll go to the Witte.

 

[bindian]

We got 1/2 inches of rain Thursday and another 1/2 inch yesterday. More rain forecasted for today.
hugs, Brandi

 

[wcampbell47]

Rained so hard i skipped happy hour at Gruene Hall.

Now that would have to be some serious rain.

 

[Western]

We probably ended up with 2-3/10ths, came in small showers. Went to Ft Worth and there was a few places with standing water. The sky sure looked "meaner" than the out come every where I went yesterday. Temps cooling too.

Jim, with the moisture we've been fortunate to get, that sure should make a difference in the workability of your dirt, probably "packs" better too!! Without dry clay like last summer you can put up the "TNT" for a spell:laughing:

 

[EddieWalker]

Half an inch here. Steady rain, but nothing heavy.

Eddie

 

[jinman]

We probably ended up with 2-3/10ths, came in small showers.

Wow! We only got 3/4" yesterday afternoon between 5-6:30 PM. There was lots of pea and dime sized hail too with some nickel and quarter sized pieces. I have to get out today and see how much my new pond caught. I'd bet my work on digging inside the pond area has come to a screeching halt. Pictures later. . .

...later: Woohoo! It's a nasty and muddy little pond, but it has to start somewhere. The 3/4" rain gave me a foot of water in my pond. How cool is that?!! Pictures below:

 

[bindian]

We got another inch dumped on us, along with no power for 5 hours.
hugs, Brandi

 

[ronjhall]

Been working outside with little projects today. Perfect 80 degree day. Then about 2:30 a north wind came and dropped temperature about 10 degrees. Should bring some much needed rain to the RGV this evening and tomorrow. High tomorrow is 56 in the morning. Then slow drop to low 40s in the afternoon. It's raining as I type. Hope it continues.

 

[pacerron]

Woohoo! It's a nasty and muddy little pond, but it has to start somewhere. The 3/4" rain gave me a foot of water in my pond. How cool is that?!! Pictures below:

Jim,
I'm sure you didn't have your camera quite level and this perspective is hard to figure, but I'm wondering if this is the finished dam height and if you will have a cliff on the other side even when smoothed out?
Ron

 

[Uncle Doug]

We got about 2" of rain over the past 24 hours here in SE Texas. Temps are starting to drop now that the sun has gone down.

 

[jinman]

Jim,
I'm sure you didn't have your camera quite level and this perspective is hard to figure, but I'm wondering if this is the finished dam height and if you will have a cliff on the other side even when smoothed out?
Ron

Ron, your illustration has level skewed a bit. The bank on the far side is slightly above overflow. Water will fill and the basin and come halfway up the feed gully before it fills. The deeper water will be in the foreground. The cliff on the other side of the pond will be sloped some, but it will always be a huge drop to the water. At the highest point, water should be just below where the soil turns from red to white.

 

[Western]

That storm systems seemed to affect you depending on where you where standing:laughing: It never got as wide spread as I thought it would, but good some of you got something more substantial than just a dirty truck

39* here right now, they lowered our high for today for under 50*, which just "figures" since I have to work outside tonight in around 33* temps..YEAH

 

[Western]

Crazy weather for sure. My daughter sent me this photo taken with her cell phone a bout 2/10ths of a mile from our place. The Rio Grand turkeys are already "feeling the urge:laughing: I was thinking it was a tad early, but March is usually breeding here. Also, just for the "record" that's not my crappy fence!!:laughing:

Since it has been so mild, even some of the brush is starting to "swell" and get some color on the stems, now watch us get 15" of snow again

 

[jinman]

Also, just for the "record" that's not my crappy fence!!:laughing:

That looks like a pretty nice fence before some crappy driver modified a post. There's a fellow on Hwy 287 that has had to replace/repair his pipe fence three times in nearly the same place. The highway is clear with no intersection or even a driveway nearby. I can't figure why they run off the road and into his fence, but they do.

Nice turkey photo from your daughter. I saw two hens a couple of weeks ago, but haven't seen any large groups yet.

 

[Western]

Jim, I saw about 60 turkeys today, Toms all strutting in groups around the hens, kinda like the 1st hour on prom night:laughing:

That fence appears to have had a run in or 2, the biggest problem with it's strength though is whomever put it up, didn't use "slip" joints in the top rail, so with the freeze/thaw cycle, it is popping welds and failing. I havent seen where a vehicle has gone through it, but it does appear as though a tractor implement got to close.

 

[ronjhall]

Been raining down here is the valley everyday since Sunday. Got a little over 2". Weatherman says we will continue to get more each day until Monday. Good for farmers down here. Not good for Winter Texans.

 

[Bird]

NWS says 60% chance for us tonight and 50% tomorrow, so we're hoping.

 

[bindian]

Well, we needed rain and got it. Now I have a large tree that is dead and dropping limbs everywhere. It could fall and take out my workshop and is leaning serious that way. The recently buried barn elelctrical goes within 15 feet of this tree. The electrical was buried last summer. Now, it is a quagmire and yesterday tried to swallow the Big RED Beast when I was getting into position to dig it up and push it over "where" I wanted it to go. I noticed the front tires going down and tried to back up, but the right rear tire was right over the soft ground of the trench. This trench was dug 24 inches wide and about 3 feet deep. I got "delayed". The BRB got herself out, after I threw some good lumber and timbers under the right rear tire. I kept the weight off the fronts with the loader bucket and powered back in 7th gear and plenty of RPMs. Right after, I thought.....................I should have took photos!
So now I wait for dryer weather to take that tree out, while praying it will break off branches and not the trunk!
hugs, Brandi

 

[jinman]

So now I wait for dryer weather to take that tree out, while praying it will break off branches and not the trunk!
hugs, Brandi

Brandi is there anyway or anything you could tie the tree off to so it would be supported or swing away from your workshop if it fell? I too have several small trees I need to remove, but none are endangering anything more than my well house. I don't think the tree would hurt the well house structure, but it might scrape off some shingles. I'll keep my fingers crossed for you that it holds until you can get it down. Ground as wet as you describe doesn't give much support to already dead/dying trees. Don't feel bad about not getting photos of your tractor. If I took pictures everytime I got close to being stuck, I'd have a whole album of my "escape-ades."

 

[Western]

Listening to the local weathermen and looking at the US drought monitor, you can see a small stripe of "white" now over Dallas/Ft Worth, that extends to the NE. So as far as for Agriculture and Grasslands we are at normal. Since some area lakes, primarily ones that supply Cities such as Dallas are still "low" , Dallas is still implementing water restrictions. BUT yet on the news, The city of Dallas is considering selling like 16 million gals, I think that was a daily figure.:confused2:

Much of Texas still is in agricultural/ecological nightmare.
Here as decent Drought map that is a current observation and other interesting tools.

US Drought Monitor