A Rainy Morning in Southern OK!

14 years ago

We were awakened around 7 a.m. by tons of thunder and lightning eventually followed by rain. The rain itself didn't sound that impressive, but perhaps it was overshadowed by the gobs of thunder....and lightning.

So, I was pleasantly surprised when I stepped outside and checked the rain gauge around 8 a.m. and it showed over an inch of rain had fallen! Even better, there's been light, scattered rain ever since and there still are storms to our west that might bring more. The temperature is a cool and pleasant 70 degrees, which is even better.

Since our June rainfall (prior to today) had been only about 25% of our "average" for the month, this rain was desperately needed. I know that an inch won't do much for the people near me whose wells have run dry (already!) and whose creeks are empty, but any rain is better than no rain and maybe it will cut back on the number of grassfires we have this week, because we had "too many" last week for this time of year.

There are large storms moving along the Red River, but most of them are actually south of the river, so I suspect heavy rains....perhaps flooding rains.....are falling somewhere between the Thackerville, OK/Gainesville, TX area and the Denton/McKinney, TX area. I wish those heavier rains were falling here, but remain grateful for the rain received today.

I was so disappointed in the "cold front" yesterday. It hardly changed our weather at all here. The air temperature was a little lower but the humidity was higher, so the net result was that our heat index was only 2 degrees lower on Sunday than it was on Saturday (102 instead of 104). So, I went to sleep thinking the cold front hadn't really helped us at all.....an opinion I had to revise when the rain arrived this morning.

Maybe I can get by without watering the garden for the rest of the week since we're also going to have ever-so-slightly milder temperatures (maybe 2 or 3 degrees cooler each day this week than last week).

I hope it rains all day. It probably won't, but that won't keep me from hoping for it!

Dawn

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Comments (4)

owiebrain
14 years ago
Yay for your rain!! Looks like a big ol' train of it, too along the river. Hope you get just the right amount!

The cold front did great here. We ran about 8 degrees cooler than the previous days and, by evening, it was downright nice outside while I pulled garlic. Supposed to be more of the same today. I sure could use a bit of rain, though, if you could ask those storms of yours to pretty please head over this way for a tiny bit...

Diane
Macmex
14 years ago
It was 61 F. here this morning. But it's going up into the 90s again; no rain either. I try not to water. But yesterday I started doing some deep soaking on certain things.

George
Tahlequah, OK
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Okiedawn OK Zone 7
Original Author
14 years ago
Diane, I had a chat with the rain train that is still approaching (painfully slowly) from our west and I begged it to veer your way, but I don't know how much influence I have. (Probably none.) I do hope you get some rain.

Much of the rain since early this morning has fallen south of the Red River, but it looks like a little more might fall here this afternoon. We have 1.45" so far.

George, It's just unnatural for you to have to water! I wonder where all "your" rain has gone this year?

During last week's heat wave I watered the veggie garden deeply three times so it is in great shape, but we can't afford to water that heavily all summer, so the rain came at a most opportune time. My neighbors who didn't water their veggie garden last week tell me their garden is "burning up and dying". So, although I hated to water that heavily, the extreme heat didn't leave me much choice.

If the rain hadn't fallen this week, I might have watered once this week, but no more than that. It just isn't cost effective to water that much, except that the tomato plants and pepper plants and cukes are really loaded, so it was worth it to me to water while they're producing heavily. A month from now, it probably wouldn't be worth it, although if it gets so bad that I have to stop watering the big veggie garden, I'd probably still keep watering the melons and winter squash.

If we could get 1 or 2" of rain about twice a month, I think the garden could squeak by, but lately rain's been rare.

Y'all, I don't know what is better---the rainfall (we have puddles!) or the cooler air, but I'm just thrilled to have both.

We have a very slight chance of rain this coming weekend, so I assume many of y'all do as well.

The temperature here right now is 81 with a heat index of 86, so I feel like a whole new woman. Imagine having a heat index 18 degrees lower than last Saturday's! I know the cooler air will be for today only, but for this one day, it is wonderful.

Dawn
soonergrandmom
14 years ago
Half way through the year, we have only had about a third of last years annual rainfall, so we could use a good rain also. We have had several small showers, but our last good rain was almost 2 weeks ago.

A Rainy Morning in Southern OK!

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owiebrain

Macmex

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A Rainy Morning in Southern OK!

Comments (4)

owiebrain

Macmex

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