It rained

Where some areas got more rain than they could want, mainly in the form of flooding, here at this location, we got 1.58 inches of rain. I admit that most of the rain came in one quick downpour. We got an initial inch of rain in about one hour mid afternoon. Here we even had some periods of power fluctuations. Luckily we didn’t have the power go all the way out, but I was concerned about that happening.

For a while it was just a slow rain. Here there doesn’t seem to be any flooding, but other areas may have gotten more rain than we did. Earlier today news had said that the Dallas area had flooding. So I wouldn’t be surprised if some areas in Travis Co. have gotten enough rain to flood. I’m sure some areas in the greater Austin are have flooded, and I’m sure tomorrow’s news will give reports of any.

But more rain is still expected come early morning, probably before sunrise. The forecast suggests thunderstorms may begin around 4AM. We shall see. But I admit its nice to finally get some rain. We do need it.

Rain!

It may not sound like much, but it is what we got. We got a touch of rain overnight, only 0.06″ of rain. Not even a tenth of rain, but it is what it is.

But this afternoon we actually got additional rain. Grand total for today was all of 0.42 inches of rain. That may not be much for rain, but its what we got. And since we are in such dire need of rain we will take it! And be thankful for what we got. Some areas may have gotten more than we did, but at least we got some measurable rain.

I’m sure the yard will be happy and thankful for it.

YEAH!!!

Rain?

After hitting a high of 99.9 degrees earlier, we have now dropped down to 78 (in less than 1 hour), and the humidity has risen from mid 33% to now 79%. Will we get rain? I’m not sure. But it has been windy and the skies are dark with clouds. So there is hope in our hearts that rain is on the way. As it is only about 3:30pm it is possible. I will update if it happens.

Is this the end of Summer?

Its still hot by any standard – mid 90’s here. But today they say will be the hottest day of the week, 99 degrees. We’ll see if it passes the triple digit mark.

The rest of the week is forecast to be a bit cooler, still hot but definitely cooler. For example tomorrow should be 95/71, then Friday 90/72. That mean in two days it could be 10 degrees cooler than today. We just have to make it through today.

Hopefully with this change in weather my yard and garden will begin returning to life. One of the websites around here, Austin Organic Gardeners, gives a weekly suggestion of what you can plant – both direct sow and transplant. And its begun making suggestions again. So hopefully this means it will be time to get our gardens back growing things.

Let’s hope!

Cooler!

Well we are actually getting cooler weather. Its not what I would call a cold front, more like just a slight cool down. We’ve even been getting some clouds, usually a bit later in the afternoon. And some areas have even gotten small short showers. They may be extremely localized showers. And they may be significant showers. But they don’t last long.

Today we got a few small sprinkles here at the house. Small sprinkles as in they weren’t enough to wet all the ground, just leave drop spots on the driveway.

But at least they are cooling down the area. Its 8:30pm and its down to 85 degrees. That may not sound like much but that’s down from 9pm and 90 degrees.

We’ll see how long this lasts. But at least it seems as if we will cool down enough to let plants grow and hopefully survive. The cool down will be good for gardens, at least I hope it will be.

It’s HOT!

I just saw my weather station register 106 degrees. We have clouds, and my weather alerts, that’s from area weather stations not my home weather station, has sent warnings about lightning strikes. So yes, we have hit hot here in the area.

The weather station is bouncing around the 104-106 mark.So we have hot, and I doubt we’ll get much cooler for a while.

UPDATE: it’s almost 4pm and it has begun sprinkling!

Okay, it rained for all of about 20 minutes. But that rain came in a variety of directions. The nice thing is the temperature dropped down to 74. In addition it was just rain (0.39 inches), some lightning and thunder, no hail. But now it is warming back up, we’re back up to mid 90’s in about an hour and a half.

Triple digits

We have officially hit triple digit temperatures in my back yard. Its hot and dry, 101 and 33% humidity. Plants are just dying. Lawns are getting dry patches from not getting enough water. Potted plants are not happy, animals are not happy.

Trying to walk a dog in this weather is difficult. Even at 9pm its hot, often 89 degrees. And that’s just too hot to walk my dog. And of course, at 9pm its dark. You have to take a flashlight with you.

But we will see what happens thru the rest of summer. Will it get hotter? Very possibly it will. And if it does, it will be miserable.

Drought conditions

We have crossed into stage 3 water restrictions here where I am. What does this mean? Well depending on the last number of your address you have 2 days a week where you are allowed to water. In addition are from our restrictions:

  • Outdoor watering hours will be limited to between midnight and 4 a.m. on designated days.
  • No watering allowed on Sundays
  • Watering is allowed by a hand held hose or faucet-filled bucket or water can of 5 gal or less.
  • No new landscapes will be installed.
  • Filling of swimming pools is prohibited.

I expect the garden will not be happy. And to give you an idea of how unhappy my garden is getting:

They are starting to get crispy.