Well, the year started off good, then comes May, our wettest month, and nothing. This is the 3rd year we've had below normal rainfall and above normal temperatures. One of my ponds has dried up and the other is getting smaller every day. According to NOAA, expect more of the same through Halloween! Hope some of you folks are doing okay because we're really hurting in Oklahoma and Texas.

I'm just hoping my well holds out. When we bought the place the well was already in, the previous owner put it in and said it was spring fed and only 14 to 18 ft deep. Said you couldn't run it dry if you tried. So far, so good.We had about a quarter inch of rain about a week a go and nothing for at least a month before that.I pump from a creek on the back side of the property to help the pond, so tonight I'm going to rig up a fitting so she can water the horses without using our well, but last time i walked down to the creek it wasn't looking so hot either.I would hate to see what everything looks like at the end of October if it stays like this. Good luck Okie.

Be careful using the creek water for your horses Jason. If it looks real stagnant and scummy with algae it could have a blue green algae that is toxic to mammals.

We've had a few reports of dogs dying or suffering severe kidney damage from drinking water with a certain type of blue green algae in it here in Indiana. The high temps are supposed to be a factor with this algae's development.

Thanks Cecil! That never crossed my mind. She would kill me if those horses died because of me. She knows I'm not real fond of them anyways.:) Might need to save that option for an absolute last resort if things don't get better.

We're experiencing that dangerous algae in some of our lakes here in Oklahoma. The state is not allowing any swimming or skiing in those afflicted lakes. The good news is that we have a 50% chance of rain tomorrow and a 60% chance tomorrow night.

The Platte River, near Grand Island, NE, is completely dry.

That's very disturbing. Does anybody know if this weather pattern is going to stay for a while, or is it just an anomaly?

If I did, I'd be rich.

The Mississippi River is down to 15 foot deep in St. Louis.

RAH if you did, I'd help you be rich. It's just getting to regular here in TX to forecast anything. Cattle prices, crop production, fertilizer, it's all a gamble right now.

Actually not a lot of cows left in Texas. Last years drought caused a huge sell off.

Dave, the Emory sale barn had traffic stopped all along hwy 69 last year. It was a sale off like I had never seen before. Tough being a farmer/small rancher right now.

You should see the sand bar up on 270 it's 1/2 mile long, longest I've ever seen it..

Tell me about it! I'm plowing my chit under and gonna start growing cactus!

Maybe the really small hobby farmers are struggling.. But I've honestly never met a farmer hurting for cash, they'll be fine no matter what happens

Wow....

Bluegillkiller: No offense; but you obviously haven't met many farmers. Most have been hurting for a long time. The last two years have helped; but this one will hurt bad. My brother had a great year last year - a historic one. This year, he anticipates losing twice what he made last year. I'm aware of another farmer who anticipates losing around $800,000 this year and another who anticipates a loss of around $1,400,000. None of them would consider themselves hobby farmers and all depend upon it as their primary means of making a living.

You have got to be kidding me...

I was up in the arch Tuesday morning. I don't recall ever seeing the river that low. They said another 3 feet and it will break record from late 80s. The barges have to go one way. Like Hank Jr said. The mississippi river she's going dry, but country boy can survive!

NWS says we are in a drought pattern until at least 9/30. But then again many times you can go by the opposite of what they say. It's rained 3 1/2 inches since I read that report and some good storms are on the way in the AM and tomorrow!

How much does insurance cover and what percentage of farmers have it?

It covers up to twice the spring guarantee. Something like 80% of farmers have it.

The real problem arises when you were growing crops to feed your own livestock and then you're forced to buy feed on the open market at the current spot price.

http://www.cattlenetwork.com/cattle-news...-163682466.html

Absolutely! I was just curious as I've been in conversations where no one really knew the answers.

I did hear that running irrigation 24/7 like they've had to here may be a Catch 22 when it comes time to pay the power bill.

I have heard it is very expensive to carry that insurance too.

Not all farmers have it, and there's different types too. Different policy for hail/wind damage vs. losing the crop due to drought or other things.

My friend only has crop insurance to cover salary and fixed costs on an average year. Not enough to cover all losses in a bad year, such as this one with the extra $$ spend to run irrigation, etc. I don't know exactly how it works, but I don't think it will cover a poor or partial crop, I believe it only covers 100% crop loss. Last year they got paid on almost 600 acres that they couldn't plant because it was flooded. If it dried out, they couldn't plant anything on it that would result in any $$ in their pocket, but they could plant a cover crop to keep from having the soil blow away, or to have to continually spray for weeds.

The scary is what if this is the new normal.

While today grain prices are high, keep in mind their input costs have equally increased. Farmers are business people, who work a lot of hours with lots of risks.

Full disclosure: I was born and raised on a small (500 acre) farm and work in Agriculture industry today.

My hobby farm aquaculture has given me a new appreciation of farming in general. I used to think farmers worked hard only parts of the year and just slacked the rest of the year. Wrong! There is always something that needs my attention, needs fixed, a problem to deal with and I'm sure it's the same with any farmer. Add to that it takes a lot of time away from my main business - taxidermy.

And of course there's the risk factor in any farming due to no control over the weather.

Like Mark Twain said, "Everybody complains about the weather but no body does anything about it." It's got to be really frustrating for a farmer to look out over his wilting crops and not be able to do anything about it.

Whenever a drought occurs, farmers are naturally thought to suffer the most, and perhaps rightfully so. I can see the stress on my neighbors faces and hear it in their voices. Maybe the national impact will be mitigated by good yields in other places, but that does nothing to help the farm family that lives next door, or just down the road.

And what about the landscapers, or the guys who mow grass for a living... Their kids go to the same schools as yours, they shop at the same stores, attend the same church. I haven't seen many in my shop all summer... they've gone from mowing over 100 yards a week down to 3 or 4. No crop insurance, no government intervention in play here. Just the little guy, wondering where next month's mortgage payment is going to come from, and worrying about the employees that he had to lay off.

We all worry about our BOW during a drought, this is after all, PondBoss... but truth be told, I find my concern over my ponds waning every day this drought continues.

We finally had some rain last night, a whole .10", this was the first time it has rained since we had a trace of rain back on June 23rd. There were areas to the north and south of us that got quite a bit more rain last night.

The UNL drought map was updated this morning.

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

Allright! I see I'm in the exceptional drought area.... that's the harshest category listed, so I guess it can't get any worse!

Chance of rain today, I have my fingers crossed. We're at .20" for the month of July so far, less than 1.5" since early May.

I have an uncle that owns his own lawn care business and your numbers are spot on there. Pretty much nonexistent.

OK, mods moderate ....
Cars are not engineered to run on corn....

Nothing to moderate here yet that I see ! Opinions but no political junk or direct confrontations. Keep it clean (free of moderating events) guys !

More pictures of the Platte River near Grand Island, NE.

That is just downright scary.

Understandably, there are a lot of people in dire straights due to the weather and other reasons. It socks you in the gut to hear some of the stories. I interviewed a guy the other day out of work for several months and he was deflated and beat up about his inability to get a job. After the interview I felt terrible for him as he had some good qualifications. We hope to offer him something even though he is way over qualified. Challenging times for sure and if this weather pattern continues, things will get worse.

Sorry to seem insensitive in my past post.. I was just stating what I've noticed in the farmers I know.. I know farmers are hurting this year but I'm sure some have taken precautions.. The ones "I know" might be down a couple hundred thousand this year but when you turn a profit 9 outta 10 years I still consider you ahead.. I'll drop it no offense to anyone.. all I know is farmers so I'm not against them in anyway..

My wife and I planted about 100 trees and bushes. We're losing one or more every day. We also put down around 6,000 square feet of bermuda sod. I start watering after the sun gets behind the trees and water past dark. I then get up around 0500 and start again. Our tomatoes, okra, bell peppers, onions, watermelons, and strawberries have had it. I purchased 1,000 ft. of leaky hose and have been wrapping that around our trees and garden, then letting it run all night. I just pray that my well doesn't go dry. I can hardly wait to see my electric bill. For those of you who are hurting, you're in my thoughts and prayers.

Shorty, thanks. We're in the Severe area. Being on Sand doesn't help matters.

George, you're right. It isn't doing the small engines any good either - fuel hoses, etc. weren't made for that and are deteriorating quickly.

Supposedly, any vehicle built in the last 10 years or so will do fine on a 10% ethanol blend fuel. As Scott said, it's the off-road equipment that is having the most problems. Hardly a week goes by where a salesman doesn't drop by and hand me a bottle of some type of fuel treatment, with instructions to try it and let him/her know if it works. The manufacturers don't have the answer either, and they're grasping at straws.

I tell all of my customers.. stick with premium fuel, and try and get gas with no alcohol in it. Also, regularly running the equipment, even during the off-season, will help greatly.

OK, I'm doing a balncing act to keep this thread from going kaput.
The world needs more food than ethanol.
My professional opinion - we have enough proven O&G reserves in this nation to be totally energy independet for the next 50+ years and time enough to develop proven alternative energy technology.

Heck, no argument here George, I hate ethanol in my fuel. I've seen firsthand the damage it can cause. Daily.

Well I'm afraid if things keep going at this rate we won't be debating the best use of corn because there won't be any to use at all. We were driving around a couple weeks ago and some fields were already cut down for silage. Only thing left was a few rows for the ins. adjusters to look at. They were calling for a 75% chance of rain earlier and like every other day, as the day goes on the chance drops. Haven't seen a drop yet today. I'm only 40 but have never seen anything like this. Someone at work today said they were talking this could actually be just the first year of a two year drought for Illinois. I guess only time will tell but I think it's safe to say, this years crops are pretty much gone!

I think Jason hit it on the head. Irregardless of what it is destined to become, there needs to be corn available first. And around here, there isn't much.

60% chance of rain when I got up this morning. Still waiting, still hopeful.

Here's an interesting drought comparison chart from this year to years past. Look at 1934!

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/07/20/us/drought-footprint.html?ref=earth,

Great link Bullhead. Really puts it in perspective just how bad it is.

George, you'll get no argument from me on this one! My farmer buddy said that corn is around $8/bu now. They contracted to sell a bunch at a little over $5/bu.

Oklahoma is in year 3 of below average rainfall with very warm summers.

I agree. There is a reason that natural gas has dropped from $12 and MCF to $3 (was 2 about a mth ago). That reason is lots of new reserves in many locations from Penn/NY/WV to Cal and from Montana to Texas. That does not even count offshore and Canada. Same for oil from TX to Alaska.

Not to mention the advancements in hydraulic fracture techniques. Technology is amazing.

Just think about how things were done 100 years as compared to now.

Not to mention supply and demand and the value of the Dollar verses the British Pound and the Euro has risen. Magic.......there's more oil and gas in them thar holes than there was 40 years ago..................

Had a guy from a company that did a lot of surveying in this area for oil company said there is plenty of oil at 25,000 feet. It is just not effective to go after it.

When the U.S. currency was based on precious metals.....gas is no more expensive today that it was in 1963. Still at around 15 cents a gallon.

Fracturing of oil and gas formations technology has been around for many years, back to early days of nitroglycerin, and directional drilling has been used for many years.
It is digital technology and sophistication of this technology that will solve the energy problem in our country and bring changes to third world countries.
Can you imagine controlling a drill bit miles beneath the surface and transmitting rock and fluid properties to the surface in real time?
I am familiar with the delopment of this technology and it is exciting.

Economics are interesting. And yeah this involves farming and the extreme drought conditions we are now suffering:

A barrel of oil BTU equivalent = ~6,000,000 BTU
Current cost about $85.00

Natural gas BTU per thousand cubic feet = ~1,000,000 BTU
Current cost about $2.50/mcf

Do the math….. we have 50 – 100 years of proven natural gas in this country.
Put the transmission and delivery infrastructure in place and we won’t have to use corn to produce ethanol.
Again my opinion only…..

Not to mention that natural gas burns cleaner than every other fuel we "burn"...

In related news: My "check engine" light came on so I went to a local auto shop
and asked them to check (they have a simple devise that they use and it takes about 2 minutes). He said that ethanol in the gas was the problem - gets one person a day with this issue.

Got 3/10" this afternoon! I know it's not much, but it's more than we've had in many weeks. The storm has moved on to the east, I hope my neighbors in the county next door get some also.

Just got a brief downpour here. Grass has been turning greener since the 3 1/2 inches we got in a couple of days last week.

Nothing here in southwestern Boone county. Powder dry even 8 foot down in the new pond being built. Glad our vegetables have irrigation from our main pond! Bumper crop this year, like irrigated land in the desert.

We got a bit of the wet stuff this past week. Pond out back is looking better today.

It does look like natural gas will be the future power for our cars and trucks but why can't the infrastructure building start taking place on a massive scale right now. That would give the economy a huge boost I would think. New cars with the new engines and conversion of our used cars. And gas to export overseas.

Dry in Central OK after 50% chance of rain on Thursday. It started south of us.

John if I said why I think we aren't using natural gas, I would get moderated.

Dave, that's exactly why I danced around the subject when I brought it up!!!

Oh come on brother! Testify! Tell us how you really feel! LOL!

Not to be an instigator, but would you buy a car that ran on something where you were not sure of where you could fill up? The issue is how much of our tax dollers should be invested in creating the infrastructure and giving car makers insentives to produce natural-gas cars verses increasing US oil production? - and how about companies that are using cheap natural gas and do not want to fund competition for this fuel?

No politics PULEEZE .... or this thread will be gone in a heartbeat... ....just science...

Natural gas has many uses other than motor fuel.
Fertilizer for you corn crop - chems for your ponds - clothes on your back - shoes on your feet - yeah, even synfuels....etc....etc...
OH, since it's supposed to be 105+ this week, I forgot - heat for your homes - no more imported heating oil!!!

Back to the drought....... Got a few sprinkles where I live in central Oklahoma yesterday, but it's over for the foreseeable future. It's 103 degrees and humid with very little breeze. As I watch all the bushes, plants,crops, and garden turn brown and die, my sense of urgency to water begins to wain. I've made a diligent effort to water everything on our property, but I can't keep enough water on the stuff to do any good. My wife has given her plants more attention than me and she's in tears as she watches her Washington Hawthorns, Crapemyrtles, etc. succumb from the intense heat, lack of cloud cover, rain, and grasshoppers. Talking about a hopeless feeling! Our 1.5 acre pond is now knee deep. It used to be 30+ foot deep. I expect it to be dry in another 3 weeks. Our second pond dried up a few days ago. We really needs the remnants of a hurricane to cross over Texas and Oklahoma and dump 15+ inches of rain in a three day period just to get all the ponds, lakes, and reservoirs back up to normal, but that ain't gonna happen. The tropics have never been this calm for so long. We may not have a hurricane season......

I am dumping 2000 gallons a week on one of my orchards just to keep 40 trees alive. Have to haul the water 1/2 mile just to get to the orchard. Really need some serious rain.

I hope you get it Lassig. We were in the same boat here but now everything is green and have to cut the grass tomorrow. So there's hope!

I thought I read somewhere that Walmart was offering to not only install converter kits to convert cars to natural gas but also have it available at there stores? I was looking for a link but didn't find it.

We got a sprinkle last night, .04" on the gauge this morning, this brings us to .14" of rain in the last 6 weeks.

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/

Yeah, I had some drops on my windshield this morning. Took me a bit to figure out what that was exactly. Been a while.

Im right in the middle of it.

We hit 113 degrees yesterday. According to the news over half of the U.S. is in a drought and that this may be the norm from now on....... I knew there was a reason why I don't watch NBC anymore!

This high pressure dome some of us are under has set up house. I cant remember the last time it rained or the temps stayed in the 90s. Looks like we could be fishing in shorts again this winter.

We've been blessed here with rain every few days and some of it substantial, although i think it's too late for the farmers that didn't irrigate. My grass is green and growing now.

I hope there is relief for the rest of you.

It's so doggone hot and dry here that I've been pulling ticks of the catfish! Not only that, anyone with a pond, that still has water, has had critters not normally seen showing up for a drink. Bobcats, porcupines, skunks, woolly mammoths, you name it.....

Dad checked out a drought map and there hasn't been a drought as bad or that widespread since 1930's. It won't be the norm just a cycle and hopefully a short one.

Man we finally got 2.9 inches of rain at the pond!! Thank goodness I was needing it bad!!

Wow! Now a wooly mammoth at your pond would really be a site! I hope someone gets a pic!

I want one! Where can I source them from?

The snake oil place

But in all seriousness about the drought all of Oklahoma is under it. With 70% of the state being in an extreme one according to the US drought monitor.

Accuweather has an interesting article about on their website.

Link: Drought Link

Droughts are tricky beasts, just ask Africa. Africa does not get tropical storms to break them like we do in the USA. One good storm and bye-bye drought. I have my fingers crossed on TD5, but it is getting a beating from wind shear. It looks to make it through "the pass" and stay over water into the gulf. I just pray it isn't a CAT5 when it strikes land. Drought busting is one thing, but complete wreckage is another.

Oh, make that Ernesto

Anybody seeing all the rain there getting in Illinois? I've watched that storm half the day stay in one spot. Wish it would of hit here.

We are on the wet side a bit now.

A brain cell activated today when I parked my truck. It said, "Roll your windows up!"

I usually leave the drivers side cracked about an inch, but got a soggy seat out of that deal on a few occasions these past couple weeks.

I was running out of bath/beach towel type barriers from having this soak thru on my way to work.

It is a 1 mile drive to work!

Better believe I'm watching it. As of this moment, it appears the leading edge is about 40 miles west of my location.....it also appears that the heaviest precip. will go south of me. I see where there are flood advisories for a couple counties in Illinois, in the wake of this storm.

C'mon baby.......

Going south of us AGAIN!

Sounds like both of you guys have my rain luck.

We just finished the driest July on record for Springfield. We also had our 16 day of 100+ degree day. The record for most ever is 22. With forcast near or over 100 for the next ten days I would say blowing that record out of the dust will be a safe bet. We have also had rain all around us for the past few days and have yet to get a drop here. It seems that the lower my pond gets the faster it is dropping. If we do not get rain in August I will be all dried up. Cant believe how low it is. Warning....Owning a pond during a drought will lead to severe depression, high level of anxiety and an irritable wife. The remedy...Forget what you cannot control and start preparing for hunting season. I leave in 25 days for Wyoming Mule Deer and Antelope hunt for two weeks. Anyone else have any plans. The silver lining for this drought...hunt by a water hole and you should be able to fill a tag.

Cody, Wyoming mulie hunt in late October/ early November.

I got pretty good rain today.. I'd say maybe 2", not enough to have any runoff into my pond

No rain, it all went south of us. Glad to see that the southern part of the state got wet, they need it just as bad as we do.

Interestingly I just talked to my trout supplier in Michigan and one of his wells is up 2 feet! He's close to Lake Michigan and from what I hear those close to the lake are tied into the lake level which is up. Apparently ample rain farther north and good rain before the drought have brought the lake level up.

The only downside to being in an aquifer that is tied into the lake is nitrogen gas levels rise with increased lake levels. However it is something one can deal with by blowing off the gas.

We got around three inches of rain last night. My larger pond was down around 10 inches, now about 5 and still have runoff.

Ditto in West Central IL...I'd say the big pond gained a foot back in depth in about 2 hours. And a happy side note, the rain came down so hard it all but obliterated the FA buildup on top!

count your lucky stars, it missed me by 40 miles. Went south and east

liquidsquid,
Please... Nothing more than a Tropical Storm, eh?

Had a little shower build up to the northwest of me this a.m., but alas it moved east and never made it here. Got some rain in northern Oklahoma, but it doesn't look like it's headed this way either.

There is a tropical storm heading this way hopefully.

Current outlook is for Mexico.


data from a reconnaissance plane and radar from Martinique showed the small but well-defined center of Ernesto moved westward just south of or over St. Lucia early this morning. Based on the aircraft and surface observations...the initial intensity is set at 45 knots. These winds are confined to a small area north of the center. Fast-moving tropical cyclones typically do not strengthen much and in fact...latest satellite images indicate little change in the structure of the cyclone.

Ernesto is moving toward the west or 275 degrees at 18 knots
embedded within a fast easterly flow south of the subtropical
ridge. This steering pattern should keep the cyclone on a general
westward track for the next 2 to 3 days. By the time Ernesto
reaches the western Caribbean...the steering flow is expected to
weaken and Ernesto is forecast to slow down. The combination of low
shear and high upper-ocean heat content in the western Caribbean
Sea would favor some intensification...and Ernesto is forecast to
become a hurricane in the northwestern Caribbean Sea. The official
forecast follows the intensity consensus...but one should note that
both the SHIPS and lgem intensity models are forecasting a stronger
hurricane.

Most of the track guidance is in pretty good agreement that Ernesto
will be racing westward across the eastern and central Caribbean
during the next 2 to 3 days. After that...track models diverge
considerably and some models keep Ernesto on a more westward
track...while another group turn the cyclone more to the
northwest...depending upon how the models depict the strength of
ridge to the north. Nevertheless...all indications are that Ernesto
will be moving across the northwestern Caribbean Sea in 4 to 5
days.



Read more at http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/at201205.disc.html#duwceeiMv0ROqLw6.99

Just read it hit 113 in Oklahoma yesterday, so guys be careful out there. It doesn't take long to get overheated, and recovery takes far longer than you may think.

We've been tracking Ernesto at work, and most of the computer models don't look like it will push any weather north. It's sad to think that a tropical storm/hurricane may be the only thing that breaks the current weather pattern.

Other than moving feeders to deeper water, my lake has been put on the back burner again this year. Landscaping and saving the Bermuda have become the top priority. Again.

It was pretty hot out here yesterday. Not sure what the temp was, but after spending an hour in a local factory, it was like a cool spring day outside.

I don't know how the employees can handle the conditions. Pretty sad. This is the second filthiest place I have been in. The worst one was a foundry, which I refuse ever to enter again. These places have a pretty high turnover rate tho. You need eyes in the back of your head to walk into some of these places

It just boggles my mind on how some of these companies think. Take care of your employees, and they will increase your profits.

Sad, Sad, Sad
That is my limited rant.

Been there done that before going off to college and between college when I ran out of money (my parents didn't pay my way like some kids.)

Funny thing everyone of those factories is gone except for one. The one that is still here came through one day and fired every one that had over 15 years there. Didn't want anyone retiring and costing them more money.

I loved how they complained about the turn over but they didn't pay anything and working conditions were dismal. Down the road there was a union shop with better working conditions and better pay. You had to wait until someone died to get it. LOL Go figure.

I don't know how many times I was told to go home with no pay because the parts didn't come in. But they just couldn't figure out why there was no loyalty! And they also hired managers from the outside vs. promoting from the inside. And don't get me started on the loss of workers due to overuse injuries. I suggested they rotate people to prevent it, but that fell on deaf ears.

I swear it seemed like losing money and running incompetently was the plan in some of these places! Maybe just tax right offs for some fat cat?

I spent several years in a factory working in close proximity to a row of huge, plastic injection molding machines. The deafening shriek of the hydraulics, the smell of melted plastic and hot hydraulic fluid, the 115 degree air temperature, the 2" deep pool of hydro fluid that surrounded the machines.....all of those things can be gotten used too.

Realizing that your good-paying, benefit providing, blue collar job has departed for territory south of the border, and is never coming back, is the part that required the most adjustment.

Mods, if this qualifies as a political statement, by all means delete this post.

I could get these posts moderated in a heartbeat...

I'm in a place like that. I work in Q.C.,so I do have A.C. But I use to work on the floor an it can get pretty nasty out there.

I could do it in a nanosecond George!

I could get moderated just by thinking of it.

I would not think this to be political. Maybe a hijack of sort's. This is private sector.

I am seeing stuff coming back to Michigan from across the pond, and below the border. Outsourcing at a certain percentage was actually mandated by GM, now Gubment Motor's (this may be political) They told their suppliers that this is the way it is, S+++ or get off the pot!

15 years later, we know that this don't work!, and reality is slowly sinking in.

As an OEM Machine Builder. Working on a GM project was dismal to say the least. Getting paid took lawyers! If a company in the loop on a project failed, payments were held up to everyone else. This strategy by GM infiltrated to the rest. A Tier 1 company, not more than a mile from here, adopted this practice. Talking to a good friend who is in position there. They lost 19 OEM's in one year. They have a bad reputation now, and no one local will work with them.

What about all this Japanese stuff that entered into the picture? Trial and error I suppose, but it ended up on the error side!

Pretty silly, but an employee had to log so many hours a month in "the facility" learning Asian techniques, or they were demoted. It's a warehouse now.

No offense to anyone, but that's not how we operate in The USA! It can be tested, maybe hurt, but never broken!!!

I predict you folks up North & East are going to get nailed with record snow fall this winter, start digging out the snow blowers and long johns …..it's coming

I hope so, as we need the moisture to replenish the water table.

Looks like the northern half of the state may be getting some rain. It would appear to be a decent, slow moving rain also.

There is a severe thunderstorm warning for south of my location in Mi. More toward you guy's in Indiana. They mentioned that this storm could produce hail in the 1 inch size. I have never seen hail that large before.

That's one thing on my bucket list. To actually witness a real hail storm

Well once again I look to the west and see the sun setting (no clouds) and look to the east and see the rain and thunderstorms dumping inches of rain. Of course it is all moving east. There is a small area that seems to be sucking up all the moisture, So much in fact that they have had their 21 wettest season on record while the rest of the state is suffering the dryest ever. I am convinced that it must have something to to with it being an election year. You know the drill....the top ten percent having 90 percent of the wealth....Just not sure how it is all being pulled off?

Jkb take a trip to Oklahoma in the spring.....Just make sure your driving someone elses vehicle. Also stay in a motel. Baseball size hail is a very scary sound when your in a small camper. But the thunder did make the rios gobble like nothing I had ever heard before.

Temperature gauge in my pickup said 115 on the way home from work Thursday evening. It was saying 112 today. Lots of fires the last few days.

O.K. you win!

Had 1 7/8" rain in less than 2 hours this afternoon. The storm was moving East at 50 mph and they said to expect 70 mph winds.

Gotta go out tomorrow and look for storm damage.

Ended up catching the tail end of the storm tonight and managed 1.25" Did not do much for the pond but it will sure help the trees and grass. Will take anything we can get. Hope some of the rest of you are getting some moisture tonight.

Good to hear Ozarkstriper....We got zilch, again.

The storm that hit Chicago and northern Indiana went just north of my place yesterday afternoon so close that I could see the lighting and hear the thunder but only two drops here. Again last night the storms developed over me and only rained to the east of me. So I continue to haul water, really slowing down the progress on building the house.

It's not getting better.........

http://news.yahoo.com/thousands-fish-die-midwest-streams-heat-183228110.html

Y'all are making me feel real guilty. We got another 1-1/4 inch of rain last night. I wish I could send some your way.

Sat night the storm dropped 1 7/8" here in about 2 hours, Mom & Dad, 7 miles further East had 2 1/2".

I haven't heard from Cecil in a while, I hope the storms weren't too bad out his way. There was an F0/F1 tornado about 25 miles North of here.

Scott we got about 1/2 inch according to my neighbor in the last storms. That makes 4 inches in 4 weeks which isn't bad. Everything is nice and green now - especially my yard. No high winds or storm damage that I know of.

I feel for the people that still are having problems with lack of rain and high temps. Been there done and hopefully won't go back to that.

I think what's happening with the people that see the storms going north and south is they are probably falling apart due to a lack of moisture on the ground to contribute to convection. It's said droughts feed droughts and this is one way they do it.

We got 2 1/2 inches in about 18 hours. Many people in Indiana got rain in the 1 1/2 inch range but before that a tiny spot of rain, the only one I saw on radar in Indiana settled over our county and just set there and didn't move, and dropped 1 inch. So we were very lucky. So for now at least I don't have to replant my spiral leaf ell grass for the third time because of low water.

There has been a very distinct sense of the fall season in the atmosphere these past couple days. Kinda early for that. We have some really nice weather coming up for this week. Lows in the upper 50's and highs in the lower 70's.

I am afraid to open the electric bill from last month. A/C has been running 24/7. Turned it off Sunday. Nice cool breezes coming through with very low humidity. Last week was really nasty and hot.

Looks like Northern Indiana may get a little more rain. We're still waiting down here, holding at .66" total for the past 11 weeks.

Man thats dry. With last weeks rain we are setting just shy of 2 inches in a twelve week period. We have some storms in the area that are moving real slow and dumping huge amounts of rain but I have yet to see any. Thy are still est of me but everytime they start to get close they just fade away. Its exactly as Cecil said. The areas that are green and have received some rain are getting more, but the areas that are burned up and dry get nothing. You can see on radar how they fall apart as soon as they get to the worst areas. I hope at least one of these drenchers can make it to my place tonight and anyone else in need. The rain we got last week evaporated out of the pond in just four days.

Same here, Ozark. Practically every storm we've had in the last 2 months has swung north and south of me at the same time. Just to torture myself I like to bring up the 24 hour rainfall totals map so I can see this big strip of no rain that goes right over me, sandwiched between the north and south where it rained cats and dogs.

We did get .6" the other day followed by .8" a few days later and everything is starting to perk up a bit. If any of those lovely blobs on the radar screen right now hold together until they can get here, I'll be happy. Still haven't had enough to get any runoff into the pond....around 2' and dropping!

We must be pretty close to each other. Im have have the same self torture tendencies you have. Keep our fingers crossed for tonight but it does not look good for me. Hopefully youll get some.

Good to hear I'm not the only one reloading the radar image every five minutes. I'll cross my fingers for you guys also.

It's thundering here now, and a breeze has picked up. I've seen it all before, so trying not to get my hopes too high.

My wife calls it a disease, I just tell her its better than being in the front yard butt naked doing a rain dance....I got to the point that all my cars are in the drive with the windows down....Hope you get some tonight also....At least it is supposed to bring in some cooler weather. That should slow down evaporation a bit.

Lincoln just had two nice systems dump plenty of rain....JUST TO THE EAST of us! Amazing how many times I've watched systems develop just 10 miles to the East, or systems coming from the West seemingly split right before reaching us then reorganizing as soon as they pass us. Seems like a cruel joke...I'm sure JHAP and the GSF Federation is behind this.

LOL! We could be twins!

Wow. I think our ponds are big rain repellants. Apart from my pond being down 14", this sounds like what I was going to write. Rain gets within 1-2 miles, and fizzles or veers away. My wife tells me to "Stop" before I utter a word after looking at the radar.

Good news! A storm rolled through around 4 a.m. and dropped .9" on us! That's the most we've received at one time since early May. They're calling for a chance of additional rain today, and a greater chance this evening. Hopefully, the grass will green up enough that folks need to mow....equipment doesn't break down sitting in the shed.

I hope some more of you guys got some precip. also!

That's not my experience. When my equipment sits in the shed for too long, that is when it DOES break down. When I am pounding on it constantly, runs great. Of course you need that one day of use for the mouse nest and damage to be noticed, or the ethanol-eaten gas line leaks to be apparent.

Testify!
We haven't had a total of an inch since June 23rd.

Extremely astute observation LS...IF we ever get enough rain to induce the grass to grow again, the amount of ethanol induced mower problems due to sitting for this extended period should be substantial. While that's usually not considered a breakdown per se, I'll gladly take the work!

I'll probably hear a lot of: " But it was running fine when I parked it last."

I watched it too, it was soo close you could smell the rain the other night, it really was a cruel joke.

We have had .14" of rain since June 23rd at our place, the cracks in the ground are getting scary.

New map this morning.

getting rough out there fellows...

Been raining all day here. Not heavy, but consistent. The weather pattern seems to be changing more to fall like conditions. Way too early for that.

Maybe it is just me, but things seem to be shifted out of whack by a month or two.

Hope something happens for you all.

Early this year, the local weather guy said this year would be a repeat, or worse than last year. Guess he was right!

I hope not.....The last three weeks of August and the first two of Sept were the worst out of the whole year last year for us. I was hoping for a cool wet end of August this year.

It happened again! 24 hour rainfall totals from last night:



BTW, I live in that strip down the middle!

Arg, that is so frustrating!!!! The weather is trying its best to miss us tonight, but I think it is going to fail miserably. We may wind up with too much of a good thing. Go from bone dry to "oh crap". Looks like maybe 2+ inches, which for the pond if it all runs off from 16 acres is a LOT of water.

Oh well, what seemed a sure thing for heavy rain split in two on our doorstep and fired off a severe storm to our east. Wound up with 0.23" which is better than a sharp stick in the eye, but nowhere near the 2" dumped 3 miles to our east.

The weatherman has been predicting drought-busting rain all week for yesterday, today, and tomorrow. Just as it is supposed to arrive, all of a sudden the weatherman retracts the forecast and knocks down the chances and quantity. It does seem like a cruel joke.

Weathermen have become too dependent on computer models. One step better than pure guesswork, but three steps worse than observations and human intuition/experience.

Hay that is better than the 0.11 we got on Wednesday and nothing yesterday. Everything that went at you developed just east of me. This is getting ridiculous.

I can to related to most every statement here. Ever since we built the pond the rain seems to split and go around us. Recently we got .6 and then a 1" yesterday. Any amount is helpful, but a far cry from what we need. It would seem fall is upon us...strange year. I fear what winter will bring

We got another half inch last night, that's rain two days in a row! We're extremely glad to receive it, and would appreciate any more that might care to fall.

I hope the rest of the PB community receives what they need as well. This hurts all of us, in one fashion or another.

I feel like we all need to get into a counseling group in our little folding chairs and gripe to each other about our woes. Maybe Matthew Perry will help score us to see who has the worst record on pond fillage.

What really irks me is some folks around the corner have let their pond go to the wild, choked out with trees and plants, but I'll be darned if that thing doesn't stay full thanks to some good springs.

Raining pretty good now. Quite a few diehard roller coaster fans all bundled up zooming around in the rain.

This is another time where maybe we can learn from or at least look at what happening in 1936. But I warn you you will not like what you see. Buy a propane contract now if you can.

I think we are going to have another mild winter.

When I went outside this morning, I said to myself WT?! It was just like a soggy and cold October morning. I grabbed a sweat shirt and cranked on the heater.

It's warmed up since then. Now it's 57.5F outside.

Crazy man!

We didn't get that much rain where I'm at but it looked rainy if you know what I mean. It appears other parts of the state got rain and hopefully those that needed it.

Just curious, me being a young buck and all, what happened in the winter of 1936?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1936_North_American_heat_wave

Wow, simply incredible. Lets hope history doesn't repeat itself on this one. Does this drought and heat wave stack up to 1936? I've heard mentions around here in Eastern Iowa of "worse than 88" and "similar to 76(?)".

Bing beat me to it. Great question!

Didn't the 1936 heat wave follow, not precede, a terribly cold winter?

Got 1.75" last night, actually caused a flash flood warning. Hopefully, other areas got some relief as well.

Count your blessing, I got a grand total of .03". I had to spend time in Chicago this week and on my way back to the farm yesterday drove though the storm that got you. That just added insult to injury.

I got between 4 and 4.5 inches last evening. The pond is full and going over the overflow about 4 inches deep. When the pond is at full pool, that is when the water is just trickeling over the overflow, the gunnel of my bass boat sits even with the top of the boards on my dock. Last night the boat was floating at least 4 inches over that.

Lucky dog!

It is so dry here I am not sure a 4" rain would have any run off. The cracks in the ground are 2" wide and very deep.

I am so glad some of you got that rain, but that MCS stole our thunder (pun intended) and dried the front that was supposed to give us rain right up. Nothing but a quick shot of drizzle today. :-(. The insult is 10 miles to the north of me looks like lush jungle compared to my dry haystack. Oh well, starting to give up caring as winter will be on us soon, and I am sure we will pay for this dry, hot summer with a few snow storms that will require an excavator to get down my driveway.

I see I'm still in the exceptional category. Momma' always did say I was special.

Same story here.

It's not looking good for us folks in NE, KS and OK. All the reports I've been reading think its going to get worse between now and the first of the new year. KS and NE are facing one of the worse years for the up coming hunting season.

We've got almost 2" in the last 3 days, and it looks like a chance for more all next week.

Rain's been great for the pastures and yard, but never enough at one time to really run off and help the lake.

Made a trip up to Blue Ridge TX this week, and guys up there were bailing burnt up corn stalks. Hope you guys get some rain this Fall or it's going to be a rough Winter too.

What's weird this year is that there's plenty of hay for sell around here. This year $40 to $50 a round bale, and last year what you could find was over a $100 a bale. Some hay guys have told me that just getting your pastures cut has been really expensive. Guys are being charged $35 a bale just to get it cut. Diesel, chemicals, fertilizer, they're all shooting up this year and raising the prices for everything else.

Up here where un-irrigated fields of corn saw yeilds in the 150-175 bushel/ac rate, this year they're predicting 50 bu/ac. Many are cutting their losses and chopping it into silage.

We're getting close to normal amounts of rain now, and the temps have really dropped - it was 48°F last night, and the past week has seen really, really heavy dew overnight. But it's too late for the moisture to do the crops any good now, all the kernels have been set.

If it keeps up, the Fall food plots should do O.K.

The rain that we've been getting hasn't been enough to replenish the ground water supply. Ground water pond water levels around here are still dropping daily.

esshup, I'll swap you 2" of rain for 20°.

Glad things are getting closer to normal for you.

Just need the rain to start falling 50 miles further to the west. Tired of seeing it raining just east of me

Esshup, my turnips are up, almost time for the buck forage oats. Our bow opener is right around the corner in mid september.

Matt:

I've had good luck with the Buck Forage Oats. I've also tried regular Oats from the grain elevator and the deer hit them just as hard. They seemed to last as long as the Buck Forage Oats too, although it was a mild winter. $12.00/bag (50#)

For some reason, the deer at my place won't touch Brassicas, no matter what time of year. I'm trying them at a different place, but the drought kept them from germinating. In a 120' x 120' area I had about 10 plants pop up. It's getting re-seeded in a week.

Our season starts Oct 1. I just bought my gun tags for Wi. on-line today.

Scott,

where do you hunt in Wisconsin? They dont touch my brassicas until late december, but then hammer it. I found 13 sheds one spring in a one acre brassicas plot.

Scott

A little more money but I have had better luck with winter rye grain then oats. Last longer into winter. I am going to plant 1.5 acres labor day weekend just hope we get some rain so they grow. Also going to try ground hog radishes, what the heck its only money.

Looking at the rest of the thread, maybe somebody besides me can finally benefit.

From the map, I'm in the area that is the same color as the Great Lakes! This is the first year I think I've ever seen ponds and streams above full pool/full bank in July and August.

With that said, I do believe that certain plantings can do very well for the fall, whether for deer, or as "green manure" for next year.

I've been growing annual(winter) rye as a cover crop for as long as I can remember. I've grown it in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Hawaii, Virginia, and West Virginia. It has never failed to produce a decent crop.

I've also grown a lot of turnips, mostly for the critters. The seed is extremely cheap -- thousands of seeds per dollar, and far more per bag than any humans would ever want to eat. The seeds germinate with just a little moisture. With just a little bit of nitrogen, they produce an incredible amount of green in the fall, early winter, and again in early spring.

The drought monitor map can be deceptive. We've had plenty of rain here and everything is lush and green now. However we are still considered under drought conditions. Why? Because were are still below our average cumulative rainfall for the year.

Matt and Lassig, I'm going to start another thread so I don't pollute this one.

Halleluiah! Looks like relief is on the way for us folks in OK, KS and NE.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Yes! Same here, we may get a quick shot of the tropical juice. Unfortunately I will be on vacation in the mountains of NY, so NOT a great place to get a tropical storm. Runoff can be rather exciting there. See Keene Valley from last year's storms. Went through there last fall and it was amazing to see the 10'+ piles of stones banked up along the creek edges like some monstrous bulldozer driver had too much fun. Even more amazing was the creek gorge from the high peaks that leads to Keene on boulders the size of houses rolled down the valley.

Got another seven tenths last night and this morning. That puts August at 4.05", and makes it the wettest month for us thus far in 2012. August, the wettest month?? We need much more, but we're thankful for what we've gotten. As usual, I hope other members of the PB forum have received some as well.

West, North, South and East of us received plenty of rain over the weekend, some locations appeared to get nearly 3". Here in Lincoln and at the farm over two days not even .5". Again, the system split for me, and dry, hot conditions are forecasted for the balance of the week. Can't catch a break.

About 5/8" here last night. Pond is still dropping even tho the well is going. Currently 36" below full pool and it's dropping around 1/4" or so per day even with the well going into the pond.

Local ponds without supplemental water are down between 6' and 8'.

Our place got .5" - .6" and we still have cracks in ground everywhere.

On the bright side that is 3 times as much rain as we have seen at our place in the last 60 days, humidty levels are back up so evaporation is not as bad as it was. We still need more rain.

According the TWC we only received .20". It was quite a system that just missed us again...almost seems intentional. I'd prefer a bone dry and hot forecast than the teasing of rain. It was nice to smell fresh rain laden air again, though. Brought back some nice memories, at least!

Managed 1.5" out of yesterday's storms. The most single rain event in over a year. Now we just need about 10 more like this over the next month. Maybe Issac will give us something over the weekend. Don't want to wish a hurricane on anyone or the side effects of tornadoes and flood, just really hurting for rain

I like the seemingly intentional stuff when the snow is supposed to be flying

Never thought I'd be interested in hurricane tracks but I wanted to mention a free android app for your smartphone called "HurricaneSoftware.com". Really sets your mouth to watering if you're lucky enough to be in the inland track of Isaac. I'm south of St Louis and we're projected to get between 2"-5" out of this thing...maybe. The tracking data is updated every couple of hours I think. Anyway, it gives you a better idea what is going on in between your local weather forecasts.

As of Noon CDT:

I just checked the 5 day rain forecast and we are now in the 6 to 8" rain band from Issac. Looks like I need to move the feeder it is sitting next to the pond right now and don't want to look out and see it under water. Though I would like to see that much water back in the pond.

Lassig....we, too, are in for a soaking. Everytime they update the storm's venture north, it seems to move at a slower pace.
since we are on the east side as it moves up, I expect the weekend to be a washout.....and that's a good thing for me.
I hope all of our friends in the path keep it safe and get the rain they want.

I'm right in the middle of the 6 to 12 inch.

See that 12 -18 - that is me. We won't get that much so maybe we will have lakes left.

Good time to get some "before" pictures so we can post the "afters"....ahhhhh, after.

Don't jinx it.

The middle and Southern portion of Indian needs the rain. The new track shows us up in the North getting a lot less.

Lets hope Scott the ones that need it get it. But then again it's too early to accurately project the exact path from what I'm reading.

If you got 6 inches would that fill yours and Fritz's ponds?

Mine, I doubt it. Depending on how much runoff there was, maybe, but with the sandy soil a lot goes straight down quickly. Even with the well going into it 24/7 since the end of May, my pond is down 36"-38".

Fris's? No. His are down close to 96". It'd raise them maybe 6". His ponds are constructed so there is absolutely no surface runoff into the ponds. It was planned that way, there is a ditch nearby that has GSF in it. When there's a lot of water, the whole woods floods, and the GSF swim all over the place. Only one pond will have LMB in it, and even then GSF are not on the "want" fish management plan.

Another 3/4" so far today. Ahhhhh..............

Had record rains in my area, broke several long-standing single-day rain events all over the area... except my little private desert in Bloomfield, NY. We had about 0.4" though my rain gauge bit the dust and reported 5+ inches just to tease. The tried and true "bucket" told the truth not to mention the pond didn't even gain that 0.4".

Rain went to the south and they got 1-2 inches for a 50 mile swath missing us by about 1.5 miles. Went to the north and dumped 3.5" in places about 10 miles away. It would start to form directly over our house, then strengthen while it moved off to the north like it was robbing us and running off. The two swaths spit just 5 miles to our west. Isac remnants.

Seriously, this is getting ridiculous. Spent good money the past three summers repairing washouts in my driveway. Then i got a pond... not enough rain in one shot to get any runoff. All piddly stuff. Puddles don't even fill. At least no washouts to fix.

Us and Buffalo, NY are probably the last places in NY with a serious deficit in rain and beginning to worry about wells. We may get some rain this weekend, but I am NOT holding my breath. I am expecting all our precip to come in the form of white stuff just to piss me off even more.

I feel your frustration LS and I sympathize. While my area is still very much in a severe drought, we have received some much needed relief here recently. I think I know how you feel though....you reach a point where the continual lack of rain becomes hilarious, in a sickening, maddeningly aggravating kind of way.

Hang in there.

It has become a fact of life for me.

At least it is good harvest weather.



http://journalstar.com/news/state-and-re...c64c6197a6.html

As of the most current map, my area has improved to severe. And I'm very thankful for that. It appears that Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma are in desperate straits, with Nebraska being the worse.

I sincerely hope that everyone who needs rain receives it very soon.

Wow. That's just terrible.

40% of Oklahoma,61% of Kansas, and 70% of Nebraska is in an expectional drought.

My little neck of the woods continues to be missed by the storms. It is so local as to be laughable. Down another 5" since I last wrote on this thread. A lot of ponds in my immediate vicinity are way down and never have been before to this degree (been here 10 years now). However just 3 miles to the north, standing water in some yards and high creeks. 3 miles to the south, the same thing!

Heading into late fall now, it will be interesting to see if this trend continues. It is somewhat topology as I live in a transition of geography from lake plains to the Bristol Hills. It takes a certain wind direction during storms for us to get nailed, and that has not happened all summer :-(. Past 4 years by this time I couldn't take the mower down trails without getting stuck.

I hope others here are getting filled back up after this crazy summer!

I am actually considering getting a well dug, but am going to wait it out a little longer. I never thought a pond would provide such a combination of joy and aggravation.

We've had a couple of inches of rain in the past few weeks, but the water table is down so far that the ponds only come up for a few days then start dropping again. Even with 20+GPM going into the pond 24/7 I'm still down 53".

Wow, still down that much? Even though I get really ticked off when I see a storm dissolve on our doorstep and give is a few drops only, I have to remind myself that you folks far to the west of me have it MUCH worse.

Now that the Pacific Ocean has flip-flopped in temperature unexpectedly, maybe the dire predictions for continued drought will lessen up and you guys can get a little (hopefully a LOT) Gulf moisture. Praying for you guys since it is so much more important than our ponds.

Good luck.

According to radar, I got light rain for about 3 or 4 hours yesterday. That will definitely help the wheat I planted but won't do much for the ponds.

50-50 shot of a tropical system up here this weekend.

Today I am getting roughly 0.5" or so, hoping for more, but it is that slow easy rain that just soaks in.

If that tropical system does make it here, I am going to have a different set of problems. A few of the projected paths have it right overhead on Sunday. Luckily I have my grass growing pretty well on the spillway and dam so I don't have to worry much about for erosion unless we get spectacular amounts of rain.

Since I WANT the rain, it means I will get nothing, but it will rain extraordinary amounts 3 miles away.

If by some miracle we get the rain in that system, I will have to worry about my fish getting washed out. I have no means of keeping my little friends contained, and really have no clue how to without worrying about a screen getting clogged with fall leaves. Any ideas? I will re-post this Q somewhere else.

Getting closer to 80-20 shot at the start of next week and for the ENTIRE WEEK. I have to be careful what I wish for as now I have to worry about all kinds of crazy outcomes of too much rain, heavy snow, high winds, etc. Totals right now are forecast in the 6"+ range, something we are not accustomed to, and really bad news in our hilly area. I now have to figure out how to protect the pond from too much water too fast.

At least I don't live in the cities on the east coast, but I really feel bad for the folks that do. This storm that may develop is downright scary in its far-reaching effects and the coastal flooding in such densely populated areas. They are talking a 15-20 foot storm surge during astronomical high tides, which means Manhattan will be inundated, rivers backed up, etc. Just a monster mess is a possibility.

I was thinking of finally getting a generator, but honestly I think people in the Eastern part of the state will need them a lot more than us. We can deal without electric for a while since we heat with wood. Just my 6yo will drive me nuts with no video games.

The real problem is I have to travel Sunday evening and come back Tuesday... in the height of the storm. I don't really want to be stuck away from my family in an event like this if I cannot get back.

Buy a generator. If the power goes out, even tho you heat with wood, what about the refigerator and freezer? You on city water or a well? Water heated via wood?

It doesn't have to be a huge one, just enough to power the essentials, and have ethanol free gas for it. Shell V-Power 93 octane is ethanol free. After all the problems that I went thru with 90% of my gasoline powered "accessories", I'm not using ethanol fuel any more.

I know they are a little more expensive, but I go diesel. It remains stable longer, provides better power, and the equipment tends to lasts longer.

If you can swing it, a permanent unit set up for running on natural gas is very hard to beat.

Ah, we are kinda used to loosing power for several days. We are after all usually in the center of ice storm events. Of course then we had lots of ice to stuff in the freezer and fridge to keep food cold.

I may pop in to the hardware store, but I will have a tough time even swinging a hammer. Kinda broke right now.

Finally...after months of waiting and wishing.

Nearly there: Another inch to go.....

Sprkplug,

Be really careful! I hope you didn't walk out on that ice! You're farther south than I am and my ice is nowhere near safe yet!

No way! A half inch of junk ice covered with another half inch of slush... I'm just happy the ponds are finally full. (almost)

Cecil, are you running aeration yet (still)? I'm considering powering up the shallow water diffusers.

Sprkplug, sorry to pop in but what would be your reasoning for starting up the shallow diffusers other than continued aeration and open-water benefits? Out of 3 shallow and one deep diffuser in my 2 acre oval pond I've had only one shallow one left open but as I'm wanting to ice fish (first timer) and family wanting to ice skate, I'm too reluctant to venture out having open water. I just measured my ice thickness and it's now 4-6" at the dock. And it's not clear ice, it's white.

Just curious, thanks!

That is the reason LL: Continued aeration. I have ice cover now, and it's grey ice also. The HBG pond is nearly devoid of vegetation, so nature's oxygen producing equipment is non-functional. And with the surface capped, there is no wind or wave interaction either. Combine that with a relatively shallow depth, (around 11'), and a high concentration of fish, and it makes me nervous. It hasn't been locked up for very long, but I will open it up, probably tomorrow....not willing to take a chance.

I hear you on the fishing and skating, but I have too much invested in my fish to to risk it. I'm fortunate to have other ponds at my disposal to satisfy my desire to fish, so I'm okay with opening a hole in this one.

Same here, drought finally ended. My 29" down is gaining an inch per day. Now only 20" down... and an absolute butt-load of water locked up in snow. If we have a thaw, it will be a quick fill! Probably 3" of liquid tied up in the 2' of snow!

Don't forget about Phytoplankton. They produce O2 also, and I'd venture to guess about the same amount or more that plants do.

I haven't forgot about em', but with my water clarity right now I rather doubt they are contributing too much to the O2 production....visibility measured at over 8' a few days ago.

I started running it off and on in the trout pond close to shore with one of my smaller diaphragm pumps to keep a little area open in case we get a big dump of snow on the thin ice. I'm feeding my brook trout ever four or five days in that open water.

As far as the big pond I've been running another small diaphragm compressor in close to shore too, but continuously because it's not putting out much air. I need to bring it in and replace some parts Cody sent me. It is keeping some ice open though.

Consider yourself lucky that your ponds are full, mine is still down 5 to 6 feet. No relief in sight for us. Running the shallow aerator full time since only about 8 to 9 feet of depth left in the pond.

Most of our ponds are dry or have less than 3 feet of water in them.

I feel for you guys. Our weather seems to be SNAFU too but at least I don't have any issues as I have a well and lots of ground water to top off ponds. In fact, I will be pumping 45 gpm 24/7 through my trout pond starting next April to November. That's a lot of water! However it is a business selling the fish and not just for pleasure. I could potentially get 5 to 8 grand for 100 large frozen brook trout if they are in good enough condition and large enough.

If I can be assured of the quality I will at some point in the future raise them in an RAS where I will use up to 99 percent less water. I'd like to go that route but fin quality is paramount for my niche market and it may not happen in an enclosed tank.

And I feel even more guilty about seining, draining, and refilling my .62 acre pond next year to start over, which will be a million gallons going downstream to Lake Michigan! I need to salvage the largest fish and put them back in, as things got out of whack due to mixed sex bluegill escapees from a cage in a one sex pond.

One thing I don't do anymore: Hold fish in cages over the winter! I bring them inside now into my RAS tanks.

What happened was I had thawing ice move and push up against a cage of mixed sex bluegills. It pushed the cage below the water level, and by the time I noticed it to rectify it, I had escapees. The little devils totally screwed my one sex pond. Literally! LOL Tons of them with only smallmouth and large yellow perch to control them.

40" below full pool. Max depth is now only 7'. Ice is 2" thick and clear. I'm crossing my fingers.

Cecil, don't feel guilty. The farmers use a LOT more water than that to irrigate their crops.

That's what I've heard. Wish I could send my water your way!

Well the snowmelt put me over the top...5 out of 6 ponds are now discharging water. First time in months. I hope those who are still in need get some relief soon.

Glad to see drain's working for you all. Mine hasn't had water flowing in 8 months.

We got over 3" in 36 hours, so I'm hoping that created enough runoff to get some fresh water in my puddle.

Tony, that's good to see. Mine hasn't overflowed in 2 years, and it's still 55" low..

Sorry to hear that Scott. I hope you get some of this rain they're forecasting.

No big deal. It's a way of life with groundwater ponds dug in sand. That's the main reason why I made it so deep.

My only option is to put in a well and pump when the rainfall is lacking.

Well, finally in overflow mode. Full pool! (Or as someone else put it, fool pool!) Snowmelt had a virtual river going into the pond yesterday, filled up quick!

I find it amazing how much water can move over the ground in the Spring. I can have the well pumping 24/7 and it barely seems to put a dent in the pond water level, but the pond can fill up in a couple of days with Spring meltwater.

One inch of rain falling on one square foot is .623 gallons. With 43,560 square feet to an acre, one inch of rain on one acre is about 28,000 gallons. If your pond's watershed is 10 acres, a one inch rainfall produces about 280,000 gallons of potential runoff. So it adds up fast!

We are not out of the woods with this drought yet but we are seeing some improvement. Much of Nebraska is now in a "extreme drought" as opposed to "exceptional drought". We had less than an inch of rain at our place from this last storm but more rain and cool weather is in the forecast.

http://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/



http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/130412-drought-great-plains-weather-environment/

Finding the Reasons for the 2012 Drought

TPWD put up this page.

TEXAS DROUGHT

Just got this pic from the farm. Apparently we lost 5 more Oaks with a small storm that came through. Residual drought damage from 2 years ago.

Al, I have cedar and locust trees that are still dying from that drought.

I talked to a Botanist who said that post oaks will be dying for the next 10 years.

Dave, we're going down this weekend, and I'm scared to see what happened. Lost 2 30-40' oaks on the front pasture, and not sure what else.

Seems a dry puddle and prairie land is my future.

I understand real well.

Well it's not over for us, but this last month has helped a lot. Our pasture's have been saturated for a month now, and we're finally getting some runoff.

18" pipe full and flowing after rain the last 24 hours. This one of two from our neighbor's pasture.


I've been mowing this area for over a year. 2 more feet to go to full pool.

Al, that's looking very nice and "fishy". Good job...

Al that looks like a wonderful Christmas gift!

That 18" pipe full of water can move a LOT in a hurry.

The farm just South of South Bend flooded part of a field to see about getting in some last minute duck hunting before the season closes tomorrow night. It's amazing how many acres will flood when a 1,000 gpm well pump is running for 24 hrs!!

Thanks Randy. That's my CNBG playground, and it's been frustrating to say the least. I have approximately 1 to 1 1/2 acre that's dedicated to CNBG habitat, and I've missed that area being wet.

Mark, early Christmas present for sure.

How much rain did you get?

George said he had 2" near Cooper about 30 miles North of us, but I think we probably got a little more than that. The 2 18" pipes are still draining today.

Dave has your situation improved?

No, not any improvement. We might have gotten some good rains a couple of days ago but I'm in Seattle area for XMAS and can't make it there to look at the rain gauge. I'll see it after the first of the year but really need a couple of 4 inch frog stranglers.

While I am out Helping Santa right now.

The last time I was at the farm, (after our first ice storm of the season) this is what the big pond looked like, I hope yesterday's rains added a few more inches!! In this picture, the pond is less than 18 inches from full pool!!

I can't wait to get back to see the current state!!

Absolutely beautiful!!!

Had to bring this back up. I know some are still struggling with low pond levels and less than optimum precipitation amounts, but I have to say that this has been the wettest summer I've seen in many years. Over 4" of rain just in Aug. so far, and it's normally extremely dry this time of year.

Groundwater replenished, ponds full, grass still growing, record corn harvests on the horizon, and cooler than normal temps overall.

Awesome.

Tony, we had more rain than I can remember through the end of July. August hit, and it stopped. Right now we're losing almost an 1" a day to evaporation and ground absorption, but we'll make it through this year far better than the last several.

Our hay guy made his second cutting yesterday, and we may get 3 cuttings this year. That's a very rare thing for us.

We've been getting enough to keep the grass from burning up, but that's about it. Grass cutting can be done every 2-3 weeks without it looking ugly. Pond is 51" low right now, and the shore side of the floating dock, which is roughly 26' horizontally out from the high water line is sitting on the pond bottom, out of the water.

The heavy rain storms that hit many places in Indiana missed here by 20-30 miles. Just a few days ago places near here had 10" of rain, we had 1 1/4". There's some fields that don't have irrigation where the corn is only 3' tall, and they look like a cactus with the leaves all curled and blue.

Tony, pretty much the same conditions here. Pond's around have been full all year. Only thing now is it's been quite muggy lately. Some nights have been dipping into the 40's for lows.

Hot and sticky here also, JKB. Fortunately, this is really the first time this year for those conditions, and it's supposed to cool down by next weekend. Can hardly wait for fall!

Still got my fingers crossed for you guys to get some fall rain, Al.

We have had some rain but not enough to keep up with evaporation in the oakwood area. Praying that we have El Ninio this winter to get our lakes up to pool... It's been a while

Pat W