Same here. No idea what the yard looks like, though.

The strong winds missed us with this rain coming through, though apparently was here earlier in the day while we were gone, as there were little oak branches down here and there. It is a lovely perfect rain right now, still falling. . . maybe a half-inch.

It rained? There were storms? Not at our house. lol. I saw storms on the radar overnight and early this morning and had high hopes that maybe we'd at least get a few tenths of an inch. Apparently the rain storms, and my high hopes, evaporated.

I'm glad those of you who had storms are okay, and hope any damage found in the yard and garden are minimal.

For those of you wondering how the state has fared over the last 30 days, here's the answer:

30-Day Rainfall Expressed In Inches

And, as for how that compares to average rainfall for those 30 days, there's this:

30-Day Rainfall As A Percentage of Average

We had storms. That made it a short night. I get up at 3 AM, to do chores before work. One of our livestock guardian dogs must had had a close encounter with a lightening bolt, last year. When there's thunder she tries to break into the house, and, I have to get up and let her in. If I don't, she'll make a door. So, I got up to let her in. Then, soon afterward, I had to get up to let her into our room... or she'd make her own door, trying to get in. She'd face off with a bear. But "thunder gods" are my responsibility.

I think we received about 1" or rain last night.

George

Yes we got 1 1/4 inches last night and this morning. Dog and cat both hate thunder (and earthquakes).

We briefly had a stray dog we sheltered some years ago. She was a working dog, a mix with maybe Australian Shepherd. The sweetest thing ever. She got positively hysterical when it thundered, racing around the yard in the rain and mud until completely mud covered. When it became apparent no one was looking for her we offered her on Craigs list. We would have to bathe her and brush her to make her presentable...and then it would rain again. Being in the house didn't calm her. An elderly couple took her. They had 21 grand children who adored her and taught her tricks. They called us to see if she had been trained, because she was so smart. I always wondered though how they handled the thunder issue.

Sometime during the a.m. I heard thunder and then rain. We got .4".

I wondered about you when the storm went that way.

There are new storms developing and coming in from the south. I'm used to storms coming from the north west. Last night the wind was blowing straight out of the west.

Lost power briefly. Can't get my cable to work. Mulberryknob, there's more headed your way. You, too Nancy.

Why I believe you are correct, Amy, and it has arrived. . . looks like it may not last long but I'll take it. Dorothy? I forget where you are, but you're not far from me. . . south of Tahlequah and a little east?

I'm okay working in the house after it has rained. . . but it's nigh on impossible for me to go in if we're having thunder and rain. . . just love sitting on the deck watching and hearing it all. . . as I'm doing now with my little computer here. . . whee, pickin' up steam.

Loved the Australian shepherd story, Amy. Love Australian shepherds, period!

Looks like you're gettin' a LOT! It's just finishing here. . .

I guess there was some damage around 106th and 177th.. That is north east of me by 5 or 6 miles.. I have a friend in the area though

In Logan County here and it's came and gone so far. Had some wind gusts they said up to 58 mph, I think. There was hail too, but that missed us thankfully. The schools here are taking tornado precautions due to tornado warnings issued. Glad the rain wasn't a torrential downpour so far. It was actually a nice steady shower; windy, but steady and soft.

Just stopped raining here in Catoosa. My yard has a creek now coz we are lower than everyone else.

By the way, thanks everyone for identifying the tree for me. Glad it probably isn't a black walnut tree.

I have another thing that's bugging me about our yard. There are some holes in the ground. My husband said it's too wet for voles/mice to be there since it swamps up bad whenever it rains. What do you think? Here are some photos. People on Facebook (Oklahoma gardening network) are saying voles/snakes/tarantula.. haha

That's SAD, Eileen--how long will it take to soak in? Hmmm. that looks a lot like the hundred or so vole holes out in my front lawn. Bummer!!! are they about 1-1 1/2" in diameter?

Did Round 2 get to you yet, Eileen? They're moving across the state pretty quickly, huh!

Looks like it already went through your place, Amy. Did you get much? I just realized something very cool. Even though I don't travel much in my new state, getting to know you all has gotten me much-better with the county, city and town names! Thanks! :)

About 1/2 inch of rain since this morning. Brief wind, heavy rain and pea sized hail about 5:45. Looks you're about to get it again.

I got about 1 & 1/2" from last night until tonight, so far. And a nice pecan branch that will make a great pepper stake if they ever start growing.

George, Bless your dog's heart! That close encounter with lightning last year must have terrified her. I'm glad you were able to let the dog in before she created new doorways on her own.

Amy, With that many grandchildren, maybe the dog always had a grandkid around to cuddle with her during thunderstorms, or maybe they got her a thundershirt (or a mild sedative for doggies).

I didn't come in until around 7: 15 pm, and with clear blue skies, sunshine and a high temperature of 87 degrees today, I was clueless that there were storms elsewhere. I saw on the TV station websites that there was some wicked hail around the state. In particular, there seems to be a lot of location in Coyle and Kingfisher.

Eileen, The holes could be vole holes. If they are smaller than vole holes, there's many things that emerge from holes in the ground, including solitary bees, some types of cicadas, some spiders (like tarantulas), crayfish, etc. Too bad all those little holes can't serve as drains for the excess water that runs through your yard.

Nancy, Same here! I have learned more about OK geography than I ever thought I'd know, just from learning where everyone lives and what their soil and weather are like.

I hope Bon and her family are okay. It looks like her county had a wicked little storm come through.

Dawn

I remember when growing up we would laugh at the "new" weather people because they butchered pronouncing the names of the towns. Most places have pretty experienced weather people now. I rarely hear towns mispronounced. I also have a better idea of where towns are after figuring out where people live.

Dawn, I've been thinking about Bon, too. She doesn't need any more troubles.

Called my parents in Bartlesville because they loose tv when it rains hard. Turns out they had been to the pioneer woman place in Pawhuska and just beat the storms home by about half an hour.

We had golf ball size hail in Crescent and received close to 3" of rain in the past 24 hours. I only found one broken branch on my tomatoes so lucked out there. Lots of shredded leaves in the yard. DH and I were in OKC when the storm went thru but grandkids videotaped it coming down.

Oh DEAR! Glad about the tomatoes! Sad about the rest!

I kept telling my husband it's voles but he thinks it's too wet for them since it swamps up whenever it rains heavy. Yes the holes are around 1 - 1.5" in diameter. The ground usually dries up within a day. Not sure how we will find out, but for now the plants are alright. *fingers crossed*

Didn't really get a round 2 yesterday. Glad everyone's alright. I'm still trying to figure out where everyone stays except Amy since Owasso is quite close to me. Haha

Well, Eileen, I'm a newcomer to the vole world, but I got 'em in spades. Not one little bit happy. Cat and dog have caught a few, and thankfully a healthy-sized garter snake was hanging around a couple of them. Bless you animal helper guys, but work harder!

But Dawn's the expert here (perhaps there are others?) so can best advise you. I'm doing everything, pouring a mix of garlic, cinnamon and hot peppers down the holes, setting traps, put poison down a few that I was sure our pets wouldn't get to. Although I know I should probably call an exterminator, haven't yet done it. And actually, a few have backed off. They may indeed be back, but the thing is, none of our neighbors really garden, but most have plenty of plants around. . . so fingers crossed, maybe voles will find a place better to their liking. . . and also, I'm thinking their population explosion will reach a peak and then recede.

Dawn, don't you think as a precaution that Eileen should get after them sooner rather than later? I am reading they reproduce at an astounding rate. And if they are, best of luck to you!

PS--you're really close to me, too--I'm at Whitehorn Cove.

Eileen, and also, Dawn was describing their feeding habits on the general thread, her observations about their preferred cuisine (LOL). And I'm making sure I don't have that preferred cuisine within easy reach!

Unfortunately my cat and dog are both indoor pets. I worry too much to let my cat outdoors.

I read online that you can put dog and cat (predator) poop/urine in the holes. Not sure how effective it is though. Haha maybe I have to border everything with garlic like Dawn has suggested if they destroy all my plants. Unfortunately the holes are near 2 of my raised beds.

I also see a lot of June bugs and sow bugs. Killed as many as I could. Not sure how much they will affect my plants.

Eileen, Sow bugs can be big problems some years and not a problem at all in other years. It depends on how hot and dry it is most of the time. In hot, dry years, both pill bugs and sow bugs will eat a lot of living plant material, and will feast in particular on strawberries, melons (before they even are ripe) and tomatoes. I use SlugGo Plus for pill bugs and sow bugs. We have pine voles everywhere because about 10 acres of our land is very heavily wooded. In general, they stay in the woodland until....you guessed it....we get hot and dry. Then they come to the garden and eat what they want. We have an actual swamp on our property and I've never seen voles in it, but I've seen their holes right beside it. Not much deters them. Sometimes they are a problem in the February-April timeframe if winter was hard and they're out of food, but this year I haven't had them in the garden yet (knock on wood). I did find some vole tunnels in the back garden (mostly sandy soil back there, which they love) last week. The front garden is mostly clay except for one band of sandy soil along the western edge and they are not much of a problem in the clay areas, but a huge problem in the sandy areas. We use to always have bobcats in the garden. Being a city slicker, I didn't appreciate why they were there. In retrospect, I'm sure they were controlling the voles. When we raised the fence from a height of 4' to 8' to keep out the deer, it also kept out the bobcats and, within a couple of years, we had vole issues in the front garden. I now can only raise root crops like potatoes, sweet potatoes and carrots in tall raised beds lined with hardware cloth to exclude the voles. Otherwise, when I go to dig potatoes, I find oodles of half-eaten and rotting potatoes surrounded by vole tunnels.

Our cats are allowed out for a limited time during daylight hours--about 3 to 4 hours a day, but only when we're home. We have too many predators, including coyotes and bobcats, to let them stay outside all the time or after dark. The cats are pretty savvy about the wildlife, but a couple of them roam far more deeply into the woods than they should. Recently, I heard the little dogs barking in the adjacent room and rushed down the stairs, spotting a coyote outside the window as I reached the bottom of the staircase. I opened the front door and our silver tabby, Casper, rushed in with a coyote right on his butt. The coyote, of course, diverted and veered away as soon as he saw me. By then he was almost on the porch steps. It is not completely normal to have a coyote that close to the house in broad daylight, but it happens now and then.

The ranchers here, when they shoot a coyote, hang it on the fence to rot as a silent (and stinky) warning to other coyotes. It is a repulsive practice, but I understand why they do it. Once I saw 7 coyotes, all freshly shot, hanging on a fence and all I could think of was that I couldn't imagine how that family could have cats or dogs that ever go outside with that many coyotes around.

Once you have voles, you'll never be rid of them. All you can do is try to limit their impact on your garden. They give me the most trouble in July when the weather turns awfully hot.

Dawn

Thanks Dawn for sprinkling all your knowledge. :) That coyote incident would have shaken me pretty bad. Lol I live in the big city for most of my life before moving here, so all these wildlife (voles, coyotes, snakes, etc) is very new to me.

From what you described, it is possible for us to have voles here. Our yard is beside a ditch and there's wooded land beside us (across the road). Will see how things go. I wish the previous owners would let us know how the yard is like, but it didn't occur to me to ask when we bought the house. I will be on higher alert when the weather turns awfully hot.

Nancy, thank you for sharing too. I will keep reading your updates. Hope nature will take care of itself and the snakes will keep the voles in check.