It better be coming or someone's going to be taking out a local weatherman (not me, but I'm sure there's a nut around here!)

Bah, Humbug! As usual, the clouds parted as they approached the Chattahoochee.
Some went North and some went South
and no rain fell on pouty mouth.

It's hot and we got enough mist to increase humidity to 60%.

Nell

Allison I hope you get some !!

You got it Nell...the soaking was just enough for the pots to be happy....now the sun is out and the birds are singing and we are still LOW on rain. Oh well I am going to the gym as soon as the Challah comes out of the oven. Maybe tomorrow it will rain...c

After a couple weeks of hot temps with no rain we finally got about 3/4" between yesterday and last night. Up till now I've been having thoughts about the drought we went through two years ago. last year was great for rain. It seemed like we got a good rainfall about once a week.
I find myself getting very frustrated over something I have zero power over. If someone would just invent a weather machine...
; - )

SO maybe we will get more Doppler radar shows big ones in MS headed east..NELL cross your fingers and get out there and dance !! Caroline

Suppose to be 80% rain by 3 this afternoon in South Ms., so it is heading to Alabama I'm sure. Got a little rain yesterday but hardly enough to settle dust. Keep on with the rain dances!!!!!!
Barb

I love these forums made up of people from all over. It's so neat to realize how different our areas are. Like this rain in the summer business. We just don't get rain after May. It's not unheard of, but it's unusual enough that it would become the main topic of conversation for a good long time. ;-)

You don't even need to go very far to see a difference!
Driving home just now, it was raining so hard that traffic was pulled over because of near zero visibility.
Yay, I thought. Happy happy hostas.

But when I got home it hadn't even rained enough here to puddle in the street gutters!
Summer rains here are often short and intense and barely enough to dampen the mulch.

The dancing has worked.

So what do you do in California to get all those great flowers and no rain ??

We got heavy rains late yesterday afternoon. It was wonderful. DH has been saying for the last couple of weeks, the drought is over, and it just might be. Everything is greening up and doing so much better. Last night's rain was the heaviest and longest. Very nice.

FlowerLady

Well that last big rainfall was while we were at Golds Gym. The storm Doppler shows it moved south and died out . No more rain. It filled the pool and the fountain and all the plants look happy. Best of all tonight it is in the 60's and breezy...lovely by the pool. I am on my way back out after this report. c

We have been dry also. Way below normal. Can't imagine what our water bill will be. But.....we got about 1+1/2 inches yesterday! I swear that everything grew an inch or more since the rain and my rain barrels are full for the first time this year!
Thanks to any/all who were doing the "rain dance"....it even helped up here!
Marylu

Wooo Hoooo! So happy to hear y'all got some rain. What a blessing!!

MeMo

Like Madhabitz said, living in California means no rain in the late spring through fall. It would be very rare indeed to see rain this late in June. If that happened, it would most likely be from the tattered fringes of some hurricane that happened in Mexico. All our summer water comes from runoff from the winter snows in the mountains. They fill vast resevoirs all over the state. In good times, that means that we have enough abundant snow melt to sustain us quite well. In really good years, it's enough to force us to dump water back into the sea.

But if the snows fail us a couple of years in a row, we can have severe drought. When I first moved here in 1987, California was experiencing its worst drought in decades. Water conservation hit us right down to our toilets. The mayor of San Francisco even had a little rhyme, that in wetter years would have seemed vulger "If it's brown, flush it down. If it's yellow, let it mellow."

At any rate, I'm sitting here at my computer doing the rain dance in my heart for all those gardens that need a drink.

Steven

The difference in the effects of California drought and our drought is that California knows they're going to have absence of rainfall. We anticipate ample rain in the growing season. Some years irrigation engines are never run. This year, there is hardly time or manpower to keep the water flowing. There was a near disaster when the engine at the cornfield had a failure and parts took three days to come. They even had to wet the peanut field before seed was planted.

We had a quarter inch of rain yesterday, grateful for every drop.

Nell

I posted this map several times last year when we in TX were in the midst of a horrendous drought. We spent months and months in D4 status, so I understand what you are going through with wildfires, water restrictions, lake closings etc.

I wish we could send you some of the rain we are experiencing because we have gone from one extreme to the other!

This map is updated weekly so you can track what is happening, drought wise.

Marilyn

Here is a link that might be useful: US Drought Map

Marylu I am glad your roses are well watered. I don't know how much we got but it came in several different passes which was good as it allowed the ground to absorb it before the next pass.

Thank you MeMo and Steven... Nell and I can use all we can get so can Bamateacha I am sure. Don't know if Cameron got any but sure hope so.

Thank you Marilyn for the map...I am in a D3 area...no rain on the horizon now for days and days they say. Back to the "hose pipe" as we say in the South.

c

Things have greened up some since that rain on Sunday. We may get a Tstorm this afternoon. I do have to water pots when we don't get rain as they dry out fast. We are still down to one day a week watering with sprinklers, between 4-8 a.m.

I hope the rest of you who need rain badly will get some soon. I hope all of our water reservoirs fill up and droughts will be over.

FlowerLady

Yup, what Steven and Nell said. Water is a huge big deal here, particularly for the farmers. It doesn't often distrupt the city people, unless we're in the midst of extreme drought (and mismanagement) such as the one Steven spoke of. The "new" thing for the city dwellers is actually charging for water usage. Southern California has it rougher than Northern Californians-- a lot of their water, if not most, is imported from Northern CA or even places like Colorado. Water is huge- lots of money, politics, and hard feelings surrounding it, but on average, we generally have enough of it to go around thanks to the resevoirs.

There was a really interesting article awhile back about one family-owned farming operation who started their own water bank. They had the land, the know-how, and the money to do it. Others want to get in on their action, but so far they're holding strong. Seems selfish at first, until you look at the long range bigger picture and you know they are right to protect their interests. There's another story of a water bank started (Kern County) with taxpayer's money and one rich guy ending up with the lion's share of the water. Bitter feelings over that one.

There aren't all that many flowers happening in the Central Valley of California. It's just too darned hot. They are there, though-- things like zinnias and marigolds. In the Spring there are iris, tulips, and daffodils. Heck, I shouldn't even talk like I know what I am speaking about-- I really didn't pay attention, unless I ended up in another city where the lushness factor brought home the contrasts. Here on the coast (I've only been here a year), things kind of stick to the mid-70's year round and it's pretty moist. I do water a lot, because of our wind, but my extra water hasn't run more than a few dollars a month.

Water. Huge for everyone.

Nancy

Fortunately where I live the water supply is usually very good. We are metered though and have to pay for our water. June through September we are on watering restrictions, allowed to water every second day but not between the hours 10 AM and 4PM. This is more to keep the water pressure up than lack of water. On a dry year water restrictions have started a month earlier.

Annette

I'm keeping my fingers crossed for you. After horrible drought conditions last year, with sky-high water bills and suffering plants, this year is the complete opposite. I will never complain about all the rain we're getting, but my drought-tolerant plants are now drowning, and the guy at the nursery said they've sold more fungicide so far this year that he has in the past 5 yrs put together !

Carol