Probably in August I will pay someone to push them into piles, or cut them into pieces and use my tractor to grapple them into piles for winter burning. The ground will not be dry enough to support large equipment for many weeks. Thirty were uprooted and the rest snapped off 2 to 20 feet high. These are all old native trees that we recently had thinned around and just got ready to manage this year. That's the way it goes. I don't feel to bad about it because before I got down there to see it I had been under the impression that the damage was widespread. I guess it all depends on how it compares to expectations. I admit to having tears in my eyes when I first found out. I have invested so much time and money into that place. The wood is almost worthless. Pecan in this area has almost no value. This might be one of the highest density pecan tree areas in the country.

A few minutes ago TWC updated Dr. Forbes' TorCon Index, changing the '6' previously assigned to Western/Southern OK to Western/Central OK, so I wanted to note that change here. The TorCon Index updates throughout the day, so I've linked it below so anyone who is interested can check it as needed. I believe TWC's Great Tornado Hunt 2012 team plan are here in Oklahoma today again since this is where they're most likely to find the severe weather they're seeking. I don't know if those of you with plant damage from yesterday would be better off pruning off damaged foliage today or not. You might want to leave it on the plant to help protect still undamaged portions of your plants in case more severe weather hits your area today. Dawn Here is a link that might be useful: TWC's TorCon Index

We're sort of in between Frisco and Ada, but both are well east of I35, Lone Jack, and we are a bit west of it. I was watching the radar like a hawk. At about this time last year, the same places from Denton to Frisco had horrible hail storms (widespread baseball to softball sized and also tennis ball sized sort of along the edges of the bigger hail) about two weeks apart. So very many homes, cars, etc. were just demolished....and so was a lot of landscaping, gardens, etc. Ada's bigger worry was the storm that put down several funnel clouds, but I've only heard of a couple of structures being damaged. Maybe the news of more damage just isn't getting out yet. While the funnels were the feared thing that sent folks scurrying for shelter, it seems like a lot of the actual damage was more from wind and hail. Our electric co-op also has a lot of customers in the Ada area. We had about 100 homes without electricity here while they replaced poles that snapped in half, but Ada had closer to 600 when I checked the co-op's webpage outage map last night. We have a great electric co-op and I know the linemen were out working hard to restore power just as soon as the lightning was far enough away that it was safe for them to be out there. I appreciate them so much. Frisco is one of my favorite towns. It used to be a small quiet country town but has grown at a huge rate very quickly and has become so big that some folks now joke that Frisco is the big city and Dallas is the suburb. (Dallas and Dallasites don't care for this joke at all.) Even though Frisco is big and very developed, I still like it. Somehow the city leaders have worked to keep the same level of friendliness that you have in a small town, and the developers have worked hard with landscaping and such to make all the concrete development more appealing. When I want a day of shopping (which is rare) for something other than groceries and garden supplies, Frisco is my top choice of places to go. Ada is much smaller---maybe 6,000 or 7,000 people and still very rural/semi-rural. I've only been there a couple of times. I like it fine. The people there are great. I hope they can bounce back quickly from all the storm damage. I have to sing the praises of modern batteries. We were careful to have all our phones and laptop/tablet batteries charged fully before the storm hit, so even though we lost power we were not completely cut off from the world. We still were able to communicate by phone and text message, and had Facebook on and off. The internet was on and off, but off for good after the power died, and the storm knocked out the satellite TV long before the actual storm conditions arrived here. Even our fire radios were quiet for quite a while (I'm guessing they may have had a power issue or a repeater issue in town for a bit) but then they came back to life. Even without the radios we could communicate with other first responders via the GroupMe app on our cell phones. I remember the old days when you went to the tornado shelter with your flashlight and that was about it. Now we can take our cell phones, laptops, fire radios, etc. and not feel quite so cut off from civilization, and it is so much better than way. The images of car windshields and back windows completely demolished by hail are just stunning. I know we see photos like that every year---and not just in TX and OK but also from many other states, and yet, seeing them shocks me every time. The power of Mother Nature in raging thunderstorms and tornadoes is awesome indeed. We are in the Enhanced risk area again for tomorrow unless something changes. We had been in the Enhanced risk area yesterday but then they upgraded us to Moderate risk yesterday morning, so we did expect trouble. The best thing I can say is that maybe the rain will make us green up more quickly and cause a corresponding drop in the fire activity. Stay safe, everyone. This week's weather isn't looking real friendly.

Amy, That's a lot of rain. I know you'd share if you could. It is so discouraging to see the rain do everything in its power to avoid us. I knew the time would come when we'd be paying for all that rain we got in 2015 and the first half of 2016, and I believe it now is time to pay the piper. If I'd had as much rain as you, I'd definitely be spraying the fungicide. It is a whole lot easier to nip those issues in the bud early than to try to control them after they're widespread. Rebecca, I'm glad the Creole plant wasn't damaged. Tomato cages do provide a lot of protection and that's one of the things I like about them---the Florida Weave cannot and does not protect tomato plants as well as cages do. Michelle, I've seen those watering cans like that and think they are so pretty. Maybe the rain gods think your watering can is an homage to them so they've reciprocated by coming over and dumping rain on your plants. Usually, we can make it rain by painting the house. I think that's a lot of work though just to inspire rain to fall. Oh, and we just painted the house in, I think, 2014 or 2015, so it is too soon to paint it again (for which I am grateful). There are other ways to make it rain.....pour concrete, wash all the cars, clean all the exterior windows (especially the second story ones), etc. It will rain again eventually. Until then I am going to be grumpy. It is hard enough, as all of you know, to keep plants happy in June, July and August even if rain is falling. Without rain, it is nearly impossible, no matter how much you water. We have had a couple of young hens go broody. We let each of them set on a handful of eggs because they were so determined. It was sort of a waste of eggs---but at least we have two happy hens. Each hen hatched out one chick and then promptly abandoned the rest of the eggs. First-time mama hens sometimes do this---like they are so proud they hatched out a single egg that they forget there's 6 or 8 other eggs still sitting in the nest. So, we have a tiny new black chick and a tiny new white chick, both in the brooder together under a heat lamp to keep them warm enough, and their mothers are free-ranging with the rest of the flock today. There's nothing like th cheep-cheep-cheep of a little chick to start out the day right. Dawn