It really is a drought!

 It's official.  Howell County is a disaster area due to heat and drought.  That's probably not news to most readers since nearly 1,300 counties in 29 states are in a drought disaster, according to the U. S. Dept. of Agriculture.  It's the most wide spread drought in the U. S. since 1956.

At right is a photo of my front yard rain gauge on July 2 waiting for a rain.   We received 1.7 inches of rain in Mountain View in first 8 days of July and no more until August 1 when a piddling 0.3 inches fell. 

The next photo is our front yard on August 3.  Even my weeds are dying. 

 Our average July precip is 3.7 inches.  Normally in January-July we receive 25.7 inches of precipitation.  This year we've had 18.1 inches, a short fall of 7.6 inches. 

The average annual precipitation is 43.7 inches at Mountain View.  We have a long way to go.   

Then... add to that the extreme heat, the worst since 1954.  We've had 11 days in July when the high temperature reached 100 degrees or more. 

Our drought started in April.  January-March had near normal rainfall.  Then May was even worse.  May is usually our highest rainfall month, but this year we had only 1.3 inches compared to nearly 5 normally. 

It was a terrible year to plant pine trees to grow for Christmas trees.  Most of mine didn't reach Independence Day.  Sad pine at right. 

Springtime

I've neglected my neglected blog long enough.  I apologize to my three faithful followers (Ha!).

I don't think I could ever report on everything that has happened since my last post in November, but between lawn, garden, and golf, maybe I'll try to insert some winter thoughts.  Of course, winter was mild.  And now spring is early.

Spring is here.  It has been for a few weeks.  Flowers, trees, birds are all early.  Cardinal baseball begins tonight.  Spring wild turkey hunting season begins in less than two weeks.  


Dad's azaleas shout spring's full arrival. 

The dogwoods may be finished flowering before turkey season starts.  What a shame.  I'll miss that bursts of woodland white.  Maybe I'll be able to concentrate on a gobbler better. 

We have 38 scotch pines alive out of 51 planted a year ago.  I'm going to plant more in a few days.

I have my new butterfly garden planted.  I'll post a photo when there is something to photograph. 

I tilled our vegetable garden, but nothing is planted yet.

When Kyle Lohse pops that first strike into Yadier Molina's mitt at 6:05 tonight, I'll know for sure that spring is here.

Missouri Monsoon

I can't believe the rain we've been having.  We've been in the Missouri monsoon season.  We've had over 12 inches of rain in one week.  And the soil was already somewhat wet before that started.   

Of course, the valley behind our house has a big pond.  We even have had shorebirds and wading birds find our backyard "lake". 

  

Hundreds of roads are closed and dozens of schools are closed, including Mountain View schools.  This is crazy.  We may have more rain tonight.  

This is a street in our subdivision.  Low areas all around my corner of the Ozarks are flooded.  

That's our house on the hill.  Do you think the water will reach us? 

I hope this is really spring

Today's forecast is for 80 degrees.  The last two weeks have been up and down.  Some highs in the 40s and some in the 60s.  All the cool-season grasses are bright green, but the Bermuda grass on the golf course is still "white". 

Forsythia and daffodils are flowering, but that may not prove anything.  The redbuds are starting to show a little color.  So there is hope.

A sure sign of spring:  I've had to mow the lawn twice. 

Weather? Hot and dry.

This is a photo of our brown front lawn on August 19. In the center is the “stump” of our new maple tree that we planted in the fall of 2009. As you can see, our new tree didn’t make it. And our weedy lawn turned brown and ugly.
The news in summer included reports of flooding in Iowa, northern Missouri, Oklahoma, and western Arkansas. But Mountain View was in the center of a circle of low rainfall; drought really. Our soils are thin to non-existent. Ozark soils are rocky and very well drained. It dries out fast around here. We need about an inch of rain weekly in the summer to keep pastures and lawns green.
I’m so thankful that September rains came and also brought some cooler air. July and August 2010 were very hot and very dry in my corner of the Ozarks. We had 7.5 inches of rain in September which is almost twice the average. I thought the drought was broken.
But October brought more dry air, dry skies, and dry soil. We had only one measurable rain in October and it was only 0.3 inches. Nothing yet in November.
We’ve had a warm fall, which is pleasant, especially after a miserably hot summer. The heat started early. We had 15 days in the 90’s in June including 98 three times. In late July we had 17 straight days at 90 or above. From August 1-25 the daily high fell below 90 only two days. We had seven days in August with highs of 100 or more. Yuk!
What’s next? I guess I’m going to open up some persimmon seeds and go in search of wooly worms to find out.

May 8th Tornado

Missouri doesn't seem to be in "tornado alley" as much as Oklahoma and Kansas, but we still get hit sometimes. In recent years, the worst storm damage has been northwest of Springfield. Last week, May 8, about 15 tornadoes hit the Ozarks. There were three fatalities statewide. Again, the area northwest of Springfield was hit hard. But a severe tornado damaged homes near Pomona in Howell County, only 15 miles southwest of Mountain View. And a smaller, but still powerful, tornado damaged homes and timber in Texas County about 8 miles north of Mountain View. Buildings in Mountain View were spared, but many trees and tree limbs came down, and much of the town was without electricity for about 10 hours.

Yesterday I toured some of the damage to the north and brought back some photos.



The elderly couple inside this home were both injured when the tornado moved the house 15 feet off the foundation. Neighbors had to clear a path with chain saws so the ambulance could get to them.






These trees, in the storm path just beyond the house, were twisted and snapped off.




Thousands of acres of timber were damaged. Salvage harvest operations are already underway. Logging it is dangerous because of many trees partially down and hanging in the overstory. The value of the logs will be greatly reduced.


Isaiah 45

⁶so that from the rising of the sun

to the place of its setting

men may know there is none besides me.

I am the LORD, and there is no other.

⁷I form the light and create darkness,

I bring prosperity and create disaster;

I, the LORD, do all these things.

By faith we understand that God is in control. God allows suffering for a season, but ultimately His supremacy will be revealed.

Ice Storm

The Weather.

We moved back to southern Missouri 4 1/2 years ago partly for the warmer winters. Sure, we want four seasons, but only at our convenience. Today's forecast is not convenient. Last night we had sleet. See photo at right. Schools are closed from Joplin to Winona including Mountain View.

Today we are getting more sleet and some freezing rain.

The weatherman says there could be snow after that. And the ice could build up, breaking power lines.

I know. I know. Be content. Relax. Read a book. Sure.

I'll try. But this wasn't in my plans.

Actually our cupboard is full and the propane tank is full.

I should just enjoy this. Look. I have time to "blog", for whatever that's worth.

Last winter we had a few days of snow cover in February. Our back hill is a great place for sledding. The neighborhood kids gathered a couple of afternoons to slide on it.

I was glad for the kids to get to play in the snow. They may get another chance tomorrow. But I had other plans.

According to Tony Dungy in his book, Quiet Strength, in his study of Nehemiah he learned that opportunity comes in God's time and that we should prepare to be ready when God's time arrives.

I wonder what opportunities are ahead today.