Texas Heat!

Western · Jun 17, 2011

104 degrees at the house today, add a 30+ mph wind and it is warm. I think this is like 21 days of above average temps, BUT hey, we have a cold front coming next Wednesday. Supposed to get down to 97!!! YEAH:thumbsup:

The news just was talking about our drought, said it is the worst since 1898 (statewide). Cattle market is feeling it too. They said upwards of 35,000 head sold this week, last year it was 25,000 for the same month (state wide). Prices wont come down they say, because we are ( this is what they said) 92 million head shorter than normal.

Fellas, that's allot of beef!!
Texas forest service also predicting major tree death state wide.

T'aint purdy

johnrex62 · Jun 17, 2011

No Fair! You guys up nawth keep all the cold air and just send us down here in central the hot stuff! :smiley_aafz:

crash325 · Jun 17, 2011

A little heat here at my place. Today it "Cooled down to 104".

First time this week it was less than 105. It was cooling off at night, last night it never got below 82.

It is also a little dry, no real rains last summer or this winter. 3 or 4 little drizzels of about 1/2 inch.

Looked out the window the other evening and thought it looked like rain. Go outside for a good look, It was smoke from 1 of the fires south of me.

ustmd · Jun 17, 2011

A little warm and dry for mid June. Yard looks like mid August--the grass is crunchy. Pastures are stripped bare already.

Pic is the temps and heat humidity index at my place for the last three days.

Normally this time of year, I can open the house up early in the morning--4 am or 5 am, air it out and not close it up until late morning or noon (my unofficial rule is when the inside temp hits 85 or I can't take it any more).

Unfortunately, it is not cooling off at all overnight, so I am leaving the house closed up.

With the drought, no fruit off of the trees this year and I will probably loose most of them.

Patriotic Stabilist · Jun 17, 2011

It is very bad here north of Houston. Our back neighbor has horses, he had 4 at a friends because his pasture won't support them and he called yesterday and told him to come and get them, he can't feed them any longer. Last week his hay source said he has none to sell. I'm not sure but I think he has about 12 horses. The other guy got 50 large bales of hay off 25 acres and he told him he couldn't sell anything till he had 450 for his own use, sounds really short there.

So he is down to a roll or two and getting frantic. He came over to borrow hubbies trailer, going down to the coast somewhere to get some cattle hay, I don't think they normally like it but he said if they get hungry enough they will eat it. The other guy delivered the hay to him.

He said he may try east Texas to get some hay, hubby told him he better take some of the horses with him and see if he can sell them. He said a guy called and wanted to know if he could take back a buggy horse he had bought from him, he would give it to him that he couldn't feed it. He and a friend went up and the guy gave his friend 4 horses.

It's getting really desperate here. The guy is ok, but he isn't rich by a long shot so I look for him to have to get rid of some and those horses are like his babies. Going to be hard on him. But he said there is just no hay to be had. Again hubby said maybe up north, but man that will be expensive.

Also if it doesn't rain this fall and maybe none till the spring, he is fighting a losing battle.

We have a couple years of this and it will be like Arizona. Man am I glad I had another well drilled, its over 300 ft, so far both are still doing ok. We have lived here 20 years and I've never seen anything like this. We have lots of beautiful trees but hubby said we are going to lose some of them this year he would bet.

I have been spraying water in the chicken park, made a puddle or two, the chicks are enjoying that. I have 2 waterers and a flat pan with water in it. Some of them stand on the side with the front half of their feet in the water, must cool them off. It says it only 99 out today so a cooler day, couldn't prove it by me.

Hubby has been out working in the heat today, he is stiffening up our motorhome roof. The cover is 13 ft plus tall and he said if we get some hurricane winds it might come down so he is fixing it so it won't wrack. He sure got hot and to much sun. He is trying to get used to the heat since he is going to be working at the equator. He had been working on the rent house in the AC so he needs to do this. I'm out in it a lot so I'm used to it but it still feels mighty good in here.

tungularafishcamp · Jun 17, 2011

Wow, no wonder you Texans drink so much beer with all that heat!!
It broke 50 today about the same time the wind and rain quit and I had to stop: working for a spell so I wouldn't suffer heat stroke:laughing:

Mousefield · Jun 17, 2011

Interesting that our local (Vancouver BC) TV station had on the news at 6PM tonight a story about your drought. Showed stunted corn and talked about having to sell cattle. Sorry you got global warming when we had the coldest, wettest and dullest April and May in 51 years. We are in for a bit of rain tonight and tomorrow. I am thinking of putting the fire on in my woodstove tonight. Hope you get some rain soon but unfortunately

I can't send ours your way.

bikerdib · Jun 18, 2011

Hurray!!!

They are saying we might get a tropical system come though this week which might bring some rain.

We are basically having desert conditions; dry air heats up faster. There is just no moisture being given up by the ground or plants.

It's all my fault though. I planted 50 pine trees 3 years ago at my weekend place and there's been very little rain since. I've had to water them since planting. Now, to make matters even worse, I just finished a pond at the place and I'd like to see it full of water. It probably won't rain for the next 5 years!!

NativeSon · Jun 18, 2011

Hot and DRY!!! Right at 100 again yesterday, but the wind was really blowing. Had hoped that it would blow in a thunderstorm. But nothing. Was out trying to get some water on the garden yesterday afternoon with the dry wind it was like being in a blast furnace. And like it's not dry enough that wind is drying out what little moisture we have left. Out in the pasture I got weeds that are starting to wilt and the grass is getting browner by the day. We really need some rain(maybe next week). Some of the big lakes here in East Texas are 4 ft low.

Praying for rain

Charlie

Bird · Jun 18, 2011

Yep, my yard is already suffering from the heat and lack of water; it doesn't look good at all. I mowed yesterday morning and then watered it some, but I hate to run up the water bill, as I'm already running up the electric bill, using well over twice as much electricity this month as last month. It only got to 102 here yesterday and down to 81 this morning with a forecast for 103 today. I've got to go to Irving and mow a couple of yards for a daughter so I want to get an early start.

Sabretooth · Jun 18, 2011

Iif I had to go out in this garbage I would of been out there at 3 good luck. I moved from Phoenix AZ Think it just got hotter

Bird · Jun 18, 2011

Sabretooth said:
Iif I had to go out in this garbage I would of been out there at 3 good luck. I moved from Phoenix AZ Think it just got hotter

That's the reason I put work lights on my tractor canopy when I lived out in the country, but here in town you're not supposed to run machinery that makes a noise before 7 or 7:30 a.m.:laughing: But I do have the trailer hooked up and my equipment loaded and ready to go already.

crash325 · Jun 18, 2011

I forgot to mention the wind in my earlier post. generally this time of year we have some big dust storms. This year there has been so much wind in the 30 to 50 MPH range that everything loose has already blown away. Nice not to have the dust.

Down south of me are 3 wild fires burning. Up north where the real big fire is burning, is normally a fairly wet area with lots of rain.

At my place 25 miles west of Tucson, when its hot its about 5 deg hotter, when cold about 10 deg colder.

jinman · Jun 18, 2011

Well, I feel luckier than most in central Texas. Last Tuesday night we got 1" of rain and lots of very high winds that took out trees and power lines. Our power was out for 12 hours. Since then, the wind has blown continuously. Normal pattern is for wind to build during the morning and continue until late in the day before calming for nighttime. With that pattern, I can get up early and water my lawn before the wind gets up. However, this drying wind has been continuous and all night long. I have water out now, but my guess is that half of it is evaporating. I know there is moisture in the ground here, so maybe I can keep the grass cool enough that it won't burn. Between watering my grass, flowers, and garden, my well gets a workout. I'm really thankful for a great well that seems to supply all the water we need. The Trinity Aquifer that is under us is massive.:thumbsup:

ustmd · Jun 18, 2011

jinman said:
Well, I feel luckier than most in central Texas. Last Tuesday night we got 1" of rain and lots of very high winds that took out trees and power lines. Our power was out for 12 hours. Since then, the wind has blown continuously. Normal pattern is for wind to build during the morning and continue until late in the day before calming for nighttime. With that pattern, I can get up early and water my lawn before the wind gets up. However, this drying wind has been continuous and all night long. I have water out now, but my guess is that half of it is evaporating. I know there is moisture in the ground here, so maybe I can keep the grass cool enough that it won't burn. Between watering my grass, flowers, and garden, my well gets a workout. I'm really thankful for a great well that seems to supply all the water we need. The Trinity Aquifer that is under us is massive.:thumbsup:

Braggart:laughing:

LarryD · Jun 18, 2011

I do not envy you guys at all. I was 24 before I shipped out of Texas in the Navy, so I got a lot of experience working in that crap. Summer of '80 I was building houses at The Colony (not so far from you Bird) and there was 45 straight days of over 102°. We would be at the jobsite before daybreak and off by noon. I can't even imagine working in that now.

Yesterday: Sunny and 65° for my day of yardwork.

Western · Jun 18, 2011

Bird, take it easy out there!!

I went on a 2 hr tree seedling watering spree yesterday afternoon, bad idea too. I sweat till there was none, then started getting the "light headed" thing so called it an afternoon.

I have always been sensitive to heat, my wife says if we could make a living, I should be in Alaska, I like cool weather:thumbsup:

This is/ will be a serious summer problem I'm afraid and Jim, I wonder how long our aquifers can handle the added load. I see allot of water rationing in our future.

On the money front. I wish I had about 500 round bales and 5,000 squares in a barn right now, green gold this year.

Kyle_in_Tex · Jun 18, 2011

I guess if there is one silver lining, it's that I haven't had to cut the fields whilst diesel is so high...

JESSE1 · Jun 18, 2011

Two weeks ago I sold half my calves and the price was real good. Took the second half to the sale Thursday and the prices had dropped quite a bit. Sale barn was loaded with all ages of cows, bulls and calfs. No grass for grazing, not much hay available. I made my first cutting two weeks ago and got 1/3 what I should have baled. Looks like I'll be lucky to get another cutting. I've been feeding the cows cubes since last fall. So far they're staying fat with the feed and what little they can graze.

NativeSon · Jun 18, 2011

I've seen it this hot this early before, but I can't remember it being this hot and the wind blowing this hard and this long. We need some relief soon. Yesterday afternoon and this afternoon are unbearable an the wind is kicking up the sand the likes I haven't seen in East Texas.

Charlie