We received about 3/8ths inch of rain last night with the arrival of the cold front, the second of this fall. The first one, about two weeks ago, was dry.
Normally a diary entry on the subject of rain doesn't get initiated because rain is not that noteworthy. But here, this summer, it is noteworthy since this rainfall last night is more rain in one storm than we have received since May, five months ago.
Drought is not uncommon here, as evidenced by the struggle that oak and elm trees have to get established, but the mesquite, ashe juniper and prickly pear cactus seem to have no problem getting a foothold. Lots of change occurs as one moves west past the 100th meridian. But this drought, right here at this place, is far worse that the major drought of 2011 or 2005. Rain storms that cross Texas are normally rather small cells and move in different directions depending on the time of the year. It is possible that with this pattern of rain, local areas might not get any rain at all, while the state in general gets enough to avoid the drought label. That's what happened this year for sure.
Normally a diary entry on the subject of rain doesn't get initiated because rain is not that noteworthy. But here, this summer, it is noteworthy since this rainfall last night is more rain in one storm than we have received since May, five months ago.
Drought is not uncommon here, as evidenced by the struggle that oak and elm trees have to get established, but the mesquite, ashe juniper and prickly pear cactus seem to have no problem getting a foothold. Lots of change occurs as one moves west past the 100th meridian. But this drought, right here at this place, is far worse that the major drought of 2011 or 2005. Rain storms that cross Texas are normally rather small cells and move in different directions depending on the time of the year. It is possible that with this pattern of rain, local areas might not get any rain at all, while the state in general gets enough to avoid the drought label. That's what happened this year for sure.
This is a downloaded map from the USDA drought monitor as of 9.24.2019. Our location is right under the round red circle in the center of the map, just above the letter S. The definition of the red pattern is extreme drought.
In big contrast, the Big Bend area of Texas has had plenty of rain, but lots of rain, at times, is not uncommon there, just as drought is not uncommon there as well. An old proverb of Brewster County ranchers is " when it rains you can't stock it, and when it doesn't rain, you sure can't stock it" What they say is true, when it rains there is so much rain that it washes out the dams that create the stock tanks and all the rain is lost, and when it doesn't rain, the stock tanks go dry.
Anyway, it rained last night and we collected perhaps a couple thousand gallons in our metal tank.
...better than nuthin.
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