Texas rains, don't this beat all

wroughtn_harv · Jul 1, 2007

Bird, one of my "favorites" is the Lake Lavon site. I like to watch the lake elevations fluxuate. It's become pretty important over the last two years.

Yesterday it was at 498 +. That's six foot above normal and they're not releasing water because it goes into Hubbard and then into the Trinity which is dangerously high right now. Now they're not giving elevation. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers - Lavon Lake

We picked up a half an inch in about twenty minutes yesterday evening. If we hadn't had the drought this rain wouldn't be going into the blessing column and would more likely be in the curse column. I'm starting to feel like the old boy on Social Security who marries the teen age girl, it used to be fun.........

Bird · Jul 1, 2007

Harvey, I'd never even seen the Lake Lavon website. Fifty years ago, when I lived on Avenue K in Plano and FM 544 was a 2 lane asphalt, I made frequent trips to Lavon with my Dad's boat for fishing, swimming, pulling a surfboard, etc. Even all the access roads to the lake are different now.

These "scattered" showers and storms are really something this year. You say you got a half inch yesterday evening; we didn't get a drop; however, we went looking around Lake Lewisville and were in a downpour within a mile and a half of our house. All the launching ramps I'm familiar with at Lake Lewisville are shut down and have the roads to them barricaded, and Lake Park is shut down. Oddly enough, the golf course is open, although the driving range is under water. And while we didn't get the rain yesterday evening, we did get 1.1" night before last and only about .04" last night.

The Dallas Morning News this morning says the rain at DFW didn't break the old 1928 record of 11.58" in June; the airport only got 11.1" for June this year.

However, according to my gauge, I got 16.09" for June, and now start off July with that .04".

weldingisfun · Jul 2, 2007

My official, $4.95, Lowes Special raingauge showed a total of 9.3" for June. May was 15.4". For the year, my "Little Piece of Heaven" has received 43.1". That is more than 4 of the last 5 years. The the forecast for today is: Monday: Isolated thunderstorms during the morning becoming more widespread this afternoon. High 86F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%. Locally heavier rainfall possible.
Monday night: Thunderstorms likely. Low 72F. Winds SSE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 80%.
Here we go again!

EddieWalker · Jul 2, 2007

Just over 3/4 of an inch came down yesterday, but this morning it's already started raining again. I think Harvey nailed it with his comparison to the old timer and the young girl. After awhile, this weather just wears you out.

I'm building a custom house for a client right now and I'm several weeks behind schedule. She works for a big comercial construction company with 22 jobs going on, and all of them are anywhere from a month to several months behind schedule. The rain has made it impossible to get to some jobs, or there's no way to get materials delivered. She said that they haven't been paid in over a month and unless they get some work done, they will have problems paying their bills.

Eddie

Bird · Jul 2, 2007

Eddie, the Dallas Morning News ran a story this weekend about all the home builders being in the same shape you just mentioned.

Yesterday morning, before daylight, I got about .04" of rain, but none since then, even though we have a 70% chance today and tonight in the forecast. Now the puddles are not all gone yet, but I mowed this swamp this morning anyway. I knew I'd have to stop every few feet if I used the grass catcher, and I might not get done before the next rain hit, and I knew the grass was so deep and wet that I'd bog the mower down mulching, so that left side discharge. I can sit here and look out the window now and it looks like a hay field that's been mowed and the windrows are waiting to be raked and baled.

I also saw in the newspaper that DFW didn't quite break the 1928 record rainfall for June of 11.58". This year they only got 11.1".

However, according to my rain gauge, I got about 16.09" in June. And that made 41.83" for the first 6 months of the year. The newspaper said at DFW it rained 19 days in June and 21 in May.

rox · Jul 6, 2007

All ya'all-s rain in Texas is amazing to me. The only thing i ca think of is it sure must be good for replenishing the waer table. Here is perhaps somehting you can relate to. Many years ago in Wisconsin it rained and rained and was overcast and cloudy for like 45 days straight. Without the sunshine it kind of was putting me in a mild depression. nothing serious but i could feel myself becoming rather meloncoly (how do you speel that word?) Everynight the weatherman would comment about no sun again tomorow etc. ect. I finally called the tv statin and spoke to the weatherman and told him how the way he was describing the weather was getting me depressed. Couldnt he at least give us a little bit of hope. Let us know that say by Friday we will see the sun ect. Well that night the whole demeaner of the weather news changed. they still gave the rain totals and forcast but much much more emphasis was on the amount of sun we would get, adn how later int he week there would be more sunshine.

I wonder if any o oyu or people you know aren't feeling any psycholgical effects of all thsi rain? Or are you getting sunshine inbetween the rains? During that bad spell i jsut talked about it was a 45 day lack of sunshine that was so hard. You know like in Hawaii it rains almost every day but actually the sun comes right back out and it is sunny so you dont get those sun withdrawl symptoms. Guys don't normally talk about their "feelings" they moe often talk about their rain guages

Are you getting any sun between the rains?

txdon · Jul 6, 2007

Rox, the news reported 18% of the state is underwater. I don't know how they arive at that figure. In central Texas there seems to be a few hours of sunshine almost every day but mostly overcast. We just had another 3" the last two days here and there is lighting in the sky this morning.

Bird · Jul 6, 2007

Without the sunshine it kind of was putting me in a mild depression. nothing serious but i could feel myself becoming rather meloncoly

Rox, that's actually quite common, and yes, I've been there on more than one occasion. Did you know there is actually one kind of flourescent light that doctors sometimes prescribe sitting in front of for specified lengths of time per day to treat folks who suffer from the more extreme depression sometimes caused by the lack of sunlight?

And like txdon said, we're getting a little sunshine in between rains on a lot of days. Our daily rain

didn't arrive here yesterday until around 2 p.m. and I even got a little less than .2" yesterday. And I see that overnight I got less than another .1". Of course, with the ground saturated, the big puddles would make it look like we just had a big rain.

EddieWalker · Jul 6, 2007

I'm feeling it, but prefer to call it cabin fever. I have a house that I'm building for client and have only managed to be there once this week for a few hours before getting soaked. I find it hard to believe that in July, I'm cold when it rains out.

Our high temps are in the 70's!!!!!!!!!!!

From yesterday morning to this morning, we had 5 1/2 inches in our rain gauge. It's still raining and is expected to continue through the weekend. The weather guy has said this for the last month. Every week, it's supposed to clear up the next week. They really don't know, so we just watch and hope.

My small pond is over twice it's size and for the first time, I'll be relying on my emergancy spillway. I have no idea what's going on down at my lake yet. When the rain breaks, I'll slip and slide down there and take some pics.

Tyler is closing roads all over the city as are other cities around East Texas due to flooding. The creeks are so high that hey are several feet over the roads. We've been losing other roads from culvert failures and sink holes. There are some areas that you just can't get to anymore. Thankfully we live on a State Highway and our road is about as good as you can get. Those county Farm to Market roads are just not up to this type of weather!!!

Eddie

jinman · Jul 6, 2007

Bird said:
And like txdon said, we're getting a little sunshine in between rains on a lot of days.

We've actually been very lucky here in Sunset. I just had my grandkids for a week and we only had one big rainstorm during that time. A week ago we got a 2" rain on Thursday, and .5" on Friday. The rest have been light showers less than .1" and most not enough to show in the gage. Last Saturday night, I took my four grandkids to their first rodeo in Bowie at the annual Jim Bowie Days rodeo. There was no rain, and the temperature was amazing for the last day of June.

Every day this week, we've had a little sprinkle shower where you could look up and see a shaft of rain coming out of a dark cloud, but we've had nothing like the DFW Metroplex. Every night the news has us being thankful we are here and not there. I mowed during one of our rainstorms here and the dots never connected on the hood of the tractor. All the while, I could look to the south and see a black cloud filling the entire horizon. That was the day that Haltom City got it again, I believe.

Our 4th of July was almost magical. It got hot and muggy early in the day and I was soaking wet with sweat while setting up. My teenage grandkids were real troopers and helped me the whole time. They too were soaked, so I know that it wasn't just me being an old man that made me sweat. Along about 3:00 pm when Bobby Goodman arrived, there was a little shower that dropped a few drops and a whole lot of outflow from the cloud. It was like an air conditioner had been turned on. The rest of the day and evening were as perfect as perfect could be on a July 4th. Even without any rain, the ground and grass were saturated with water. I decided to have the fireworks on a grassy area about 100' from my house instead of over our lake. We didn't need the water for fire protection. I had a hose and soaked the ground good just before the fireworks started. We had no fires except for one firework that set it's own box aflame. It sure was nice to not have to worry about fire.

So Rox, normally about this time of year in Texas, we are very depressed because it is hot and dry. We watch our ponds (tanks) dry up and our grass turn brown and become a fire hazard. Day after day of blistering heat and dry conditions is very depressing indeed. As Harv mentioned, we just find it such a blessing to have rain that it is hard to get depressed, especially when we do see the sun peeking thru the clouds from time-to-time. I remember being in the US Navy and aboard ship. Many time I would realized I had not been topside for a week or more. I'd go out on the weatherdecks and enjoy the fresh air and sunlight. It's beyond me to realize how submariners take it being underwater for a whole patrol of around 120 days. Can you imagine that? I never wanted to go aboard a ship that was "designed to sinK" as we surface sailors used to say.