Much needed rain
It rained in New England today. Hard.
That’s not ordinarily news. But this summer there was a widespread drought in this area, which was unusual but made for a rather pleasant time in terms of planning outdoor activities.
But it also meant that rivers have been low, and many of the leaves this fall shriveled up prematurely, turned brown, and dropped rather than looking beautiful. It seemed to me that fall would be a total bust, but it wasn’t.
For example, I took this photo on Saturday:
Not too shabby, eh?
We had hopes for a good rain, and got .1″. Back to the sprinklers for the grass seed.
You’re getting the system that came through the Midwest yesterday morning. We’ve been dry too, and I’ve been bummed over what that means for the fall. I spent Columbus Day at the Anderson Japanese Garden in Rockford, IL. The color was certainly not what it should have been.
On a totally unrelated note, I was there all day – 9:00am to 6:00pm. I roamed the grounds many times, and would sit for an hour or more in various spots and read the book I brought with me – it was glorious. In my perches I had dozens and dozens of small groups and families walk by me, and I could eavesdrop.
A clear minority spoke English as their first language I would say. I have no point, but I was surprised. Rockford is about two hours outside Chicago, and kind of in the middle of nowhere.
And yes, that is a very nice picture considering. Much better than anything I got at the Japanese garden.
Glad to hear of the rain. My brother in Maine told me last week that the drought resulted in a less colorful than average foliage season. Guess the recent rain helped turn that around somewhat.
Since the deluge and floods in Texas in July, there has been hardly any rain for three months. A nearby house that doesn’t water its lawn has cracks in its lawn. I am reminded of the 1998 flood in San Marcos, where about 2 feet of rain fell in 24 hours. After that deluge, there was no rain in San Marcos for five months.
As an indication of the deluge/drought cycle, the water level in Lake Travis rose 40 feet as a consequence of the deluge, but has fallen 6 feet since then.
My cousin in Montana informs me that there has been more rain than usual this year. More than the average 12 inches annual average.
Some things never change. Kingston Trio: Merry Minuet
(I am told that Texas had a big drought in the 50s.) Actually, most of Texas is caught up on rain. But not where I am.
Rockford is about two hours outside Chicago, and kind of in the middle of nowhere.
But them from Rockford get around. My “next door” neighbor during my New England childhood was from Rockford. (Next door was a half mile up the road—but no intervening houses, so next door.) Decades later in Texas, for a year I had a boss who was from Rockford.
My piece of earth has a weird micro-climate that gets half the annual rain of just a few hundred yards west. I have a Davis weather station but I do not upload my data to NWS. It is open access so anyone in range can read the data. Probably ought to upload it.
I also record the clouds as you all know from my video links.
“ Do you own a personal home weather station and a computer with a dedicated connection to the Internet, such as fiber, DSL or cable? If you do, the National Weather Service (NWS) and local television meteorologists would love to see your data! The NWS can ingest your frequently-posted weather data into our data and display systems, which can not only improve computer model data (and subsequent weather forecasts) for your area, but also makes the NWS and local television meteorologists aware of micro-climates (unique temperature, wind and precipitation patterns) specific to your local area.”
At least you didn’t get a major Spongy (Gypsy) moth outbreak. I remember one where all the trees around Walden Pond were denuded and walking was crunchy because of all the debris on the ground.
Gringo, you may already know this, but:
Late this afternoon (well, Monday afternoon) this came out:
“Austin, Travis County under disaster declarations due to wildfire risk.”
The article said some common causes of recent fires are the ongoing construction, and the use of lawnmowers.
Must be the fault of AGW…or Trump.
Both, no doubt.
OTOH, we’ve already been told (countless times) that “A Hard Rain’s Gonna Fall”.
Somewhere.
Some point.
That being noted, why can’t the US be more like, um, Sweden??
‘Sweden Tells Citizens To Prepare For “War Mode”‘—
https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/sweden-tells-citizens-prepare-war-mode
Made for a great visit with family on the Cape during most of August, though.
Mike P., that’s a nice report! What was the book that you read?
And it’s a nice photo from the hostess. I sometimes wonder if there’s some ideal mix of green/yellow/orange/red to make a perfect fall color picture. But maybe it’s better not to know, even if it does exist.
People often give books to me as a gift, which is very nice, and it is the thought that counts. But it is sometimes awkward because my current reading list couldn’t be gotten through in a decade. That said, I took this gifted book
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/199798198-a-walk-in-the-park
About a hike gone wrong in the Grand Canyon (one of my other hobbies is long distance thru-hiking/backpacking). It is very well written, not sure why that surprised me, but it did. I came damn close to reading it from cover to cover in one go. Came up a couple chapters short.
Glad to hear New England got some rain. Just got back from a short trip to visit my mom and family in Upstate New York. October is the best time to visit the northeast when the weather is cool, sunny, and dry. Except this year too dry. As we drove from the airport to my mom’s place outside Utica I saw signs which said no burning.
Mike Plaiss
Just a decade? You are doing better than me.
Thanks for the book recommendation. My longest hikes or canoe trips have been for five days, so their hike of the Grand Canyon is far beyond what I have done. But it will be fun to read about.
My brother and sister-in-law have a bed-and-breakfast in Maine. One time a former Maryland neighbor of theirs dropped in after completing a hike of the Appalachian trail. Which reminds me a classic Maine woodland adventure tale: Donn Fendler’s Lost on a Mountain in Maine. He was 12 at the time.