Joined: Sep 14, 2004 Posts: 6468 Location: Rural Virginia
Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2005 8:09 am Post subject: Re: Drought and heat in eastern U.S.
Oh happy day! I know the feeling, Darlin'. Good for you. Looks like I'll have to be patient. We've got a hurricane on our doorstep but not even it is giving us anything. This morning we had a "shower" that I couldn't even measure in my rain gauge. When it doesn't want to rain, it doesn't.
Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2005 8:35 am Post subject: Re: Drought and heat in eastern U.S.
Yep, I am happy and we sure need it. I hope Ophelia gives you some too.
On a related note - it's been so dry here that fires start easily. We had some arsonists running through the woods here this past weekend. A couple guys on four-wheelers were out joyriding and knocking down mailboxes. They were caught by a neighbor (a few miles away) and he ran them off.
The fire (they apparently started in retaliation against him) stopped about 2 1/2 miles from our land. The AR Forestry Commission said that a total of 643 acres was burned, much of it being Deltec Timber Land. Both young, and mature pines were burned. Thankfully no homes or personal property was damaged. The fire was started in several locations. One firefighter I spoke with said as fast as they got one part put out, it would pop up again somewhere else.
The arsonists will no doubt be headed to the pen in short order.
K
Joined: Sep 14, 2004 Posts: 6468 Location: Rural Virginia
Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2005 10:35 am Post subject: Re: Drought and heat in eastern U.S.
I own (and live on) 25 acres of woods and, naturally, worry plenty about fire in weather like this. Arkansas is one of the places I've considered moving to (when my elderly parents, who also live here in a separate house, are gone). Land is cheap there. Yes, the 4-wheeler element is an ever-present hazard in such settings. I pray every day that gas will get so expensive it forces those types out of the saddle. I used to think of Arkansas as a very well-watered place, but now I'm having second thoughts.
Posted: Wed Sep 14, 2005 12:03 pm Post subject: Re: Drought and heat in eastern U.S.
Heineken wrote:
I used to think of Arkansas as a very well-watered place, but now I'm having second thoughts.
Normally it is - but with climate change going on, all bets are off for the future. This summer has been compared to the summer of 1980. We had as little rain as that year, but thankfully not the extreme heat. In 1980 we broke all kinds of high temp records to go with the drought. I'm hoping this is just a fluke year, and we'll make up the rainfall with the fall and winter.
Joined: Sep 14, 2004 Posts: 6468 Location: Rural Virginia
Posted: Thu Sep 15, 2005 9:23 am Post subject: Re: Drought and heat in eastern U.S.
0.2 inch of rain in the gauge this morning---the first we've had in one solid month. Probably a rogue shower spun off of Ophelia. Not much, but I'll take it.
It's so dry people are watering their cacti to keep them alive. The unusual winter grassfires that have destroyed hundreds of homes are also due to drought. They're expecting it to only get worse, especially in Arizona and New Mexico.
I always think of Britain as a rainy place, but...
Quote:
• Several areas, including Surrey, West Sussex, West Kent and South London, have banned the use of hoses for watering gardens or washing cars.
• Residents throughout southeast England are being urged to cut back on use of washing machines and dishwashers and to turn off the tap when brushing their teeth.
• The southern beach resort town of Brighton has cut the number of flowers it will plant for its annual "City in Bloom" project.
• Thames Water, which supplies drinking water to 8 million people across London and the Thames Valley, is spending $875 million over the next five years to replace Victorian-era water pipes. Some are more than 100 years old and are prone to leaks and bursts. A growing population in London will further strain water resources.
• Kent-based Folkestone and Dover Water Services received government approval Wednesday to install mandatory water meters in 65,000 households. Unlike Americans, who pay by volume, Folkestone and Dover's customers had been paying a flat fee.
Peak water? No, I don't think so. But I do think global warming is changing world weather patterns. This may be just the beginning.
Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 7:44 am Post subject: Re: Record drought
I don't really worry very much about Southern Britain's "drought". There's still plenty more rain than in most of Spain! It would take a better water infrastructure to deal with a drier Britain, but it's perfectly doable.
For the moment, I'm doing my bit by putting a bottle full of water inside my toilet's cistern so it doesn't flush so much water.
Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 9:04 am Post subject: Re: Record drought
Leanan -
well spotted - its good to see this news being covered in the tabloid press in the US.
Here in the UK we're heading back into drought mode in the form of it being your right to burn a gallon on petrol (accelerating rainfall disruption)driving to the garage & back to go through the (commercial) car wash machine,
but when you get home it is illegal to use your hose to water the veg. garden.
Sanity it ain't.
Regards,
Backstop _________________ "The best of conservation . . . is written not with a pen but with an axe."
(from "A Sand County Almanac" by Aldo Leopold, 1948.
Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 9:33 am Post subject: Re: Record drought
We are utterly shriveled here in New Mexico and have only to await the forthcoming catastrophic fire season... Oh and its true, cactus are actually dying here. And not just peoples non-native types. How dry for instance? Well, here in the central mountain chain we would normally get about 5-6 feet of snow over the course of the winter (Oct-Mar) and this year we have had a grand total of 1-2 INCHES of very dry powder snow. Right now there is no snow whatsoever and temps have been 10-20F above normal for weeks.
kicking up dust...
-G _________________ All right, you primitive screw-heads, listen up!
Last edited by gnm on Mon Mar 06, 2006 9:35 am; edited 1 time in total
Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 9:33 am Post subject: Re: Record drought
There's also record drought in eastern Africa. About 11 million people are expected to starve to death soon.
Quote:
Up to 11 million people in eastern parts of Africa face starvation after the worst drought in 20 years.
The lack of rain across Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania and Djibouti, over the past two years has seen wells and watering holes dry up completely, according to charities who say aid is needed before millions die.
Up to 80 per cent of cattle herds have died in the drought, as aid agencies receive reports of people dying of thirst and others being driven to drinking their own urine to survive.
Dominic Nutt, Christian Aid's emergencies specialist, said: "This is a crisis on the verge of becoming a catastrophe. There are dead cattle everywhere and people have sold everything they have to buy food.
Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 9:54 am Post subject: Re: Record drought
I guess we're going to hear a lot in the commercial media about la nina as the convenient origin of such unprecedented and intensifying drought,
until people get their heads round the fact that we have the mild start of a fairly normal la nina event,
on top of massive and intensifying man-made global climate destabilization.
I wonder how many people in drought-hit American states, let alone African ones, are already considering emmigration to somewhere wetter ?
regards,
Backstop _________________ "The best of conservation . . . is written not with a pen but with an axe."
(from "A Sand County Almanac" by Aldo Leopold, 1948.
Posted: Mon Mar 06, 2006 10:03 am Post subject: Re: Record drought
They do think the British drought is at least partly due to La Nina, the reverse of El Nino. (La Nina is also expected to increase hurricane activity this summer.)
The southwest...that is what you'd expect from global warming. Even if this particular drought isn't due to global warming, it can be considered a taste of things to come.
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! And a good chance for rain the rest of the day and tomorrow.... boy are my plants happy.
Oh and its true, cactus are actually dying here. And not just peoples non-native types. How dry for instance? Well, here in the central mountain chain we would normally get about 5-6 feet of snow over the course of the winter (Oct-Mar) and this year we have had a grand total of 1-2 INCHES of very dry powder snow. Right now there is no snow whatsoever and temps have been 10-20F above normal for weeks.
