Tag Archives: playas

local news, State news

Texas drought is over? Really?

drought

Usually, I am likely to accept the word of experts when they proclaim something about which they’ve acquired lots of knowledge.

My instinct is being tested, though, just a tad by a report from the U.S. Drought Monitor’s office.

It says Texas’s drought is over. Finished. Kaput. Drowned out.

http://www.texastribune.org/2015/07/20/texas-drought-done/

Hey, I know we’ve had a lot of rain. The Texas Tundra — aka the Panhandle — has been blessed beyond measure by abundant rain this spring and well into the summer.

We’re barely halfway through the year and we’ve already surpassed by a significant margin the region’s annual average precipitation amount. More rain is sure to come. Late in the year, we can expect snow.

But the Drought Monitor says the drought is over.

Our playas are full. Our reservoirs are filling up. Lake Meredith, the region’s primary surface water source, now is well more than 50 feet deep, about double its depth from the worst of the drought in 2013. Water authorities are pumping water out of the lake and supplying it to cities, such as Amarillo.

My wife and I drove to Allen — just north of Dallas — this past weekend and were blown away by the vast expanse of green we saw every mile of the way. We had to remind ourselves that this is the middle of July, in Texas, for crying out loud!

Is the drought over? Well, the experts say it is.

I think we’re going to keep acting, though, as if it’s still got its grip on us.

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Clouds = answered prayers

clouds

Those clouds over yonder — I’m quite sure — are the result of answered prayers.

I snapped this picture just a little while ago as I drove home from work. They’re to the southeast of Amarillo. They might be dumping some rain on Palo Duro Canyon.

The prayers? Well, I also am quite sure a lot of folks around here have lifted them up to the Almighty himself.

He listened and he answered them.

How do I know that? Well, I don’t. Faith in prayer allows us to just believe something happens for the better.

We’ve had a lot of things happening for the better around here all year long.

The National Weather Service says we’ve exceeded our annual average precipitation amount for the year, which is about 20 inches; it’s not even mid-July yet. Every drop we get from here until the end of the year is a bonus.

Why the dramatic change? Scientists contend El Nino is out there in the Pacific Ocean, producing warmer currents, resulting in greater storm frequency, which then blow inland — and over this part of the world.

That sounds good.

But what brought about El Nino? Might it have been, oh … some prayer?

We’ve had a lot of violent weather the past few days. The weather gurus are calling for more of it tonight. Our plays already are full. McDonald Lake, just about a mile north of our house, was in danger of spilling onto Coulter Street this morning.

Did prayer make all this happen? I’m not even going to try to disprove it. Because I cannot. Faith does not require proof.

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Not complaining about the rain

As a boy, the rain drove me batty.

I grew up in the dank, damp and sometimes dreary Pacific Northwest, where it rains three or four days before you ever notice it.

Now that I’m older and now that my wife, one of our sons and I live in this so-called semi-arid region I refer to as the Texas Tundra, you won’t hear me complain about the rain we’ve been getting of late.

More of it is falling tonight. Even more of it is expected through Friday and perhaps over the weekend.

You won’t hear me gripe. Nope. Not me.

I know the sun will return in due course, just as I (more or less) knew we’d get the rain we’ve all sought through prayer.

These things run in cycles.

Our playas are full. McDonald Lake — which is just about a mile north of us on Coulter, is practically overflowing. I saw some video of fish that had ended up on the street next to the lake. Now that’s weird.

The closest thing to a gripe I’ve heard has come from cotton farmers who need to start planting their crops, but cannot do it because the ground is too wet.

Be patient, folks. The sun will return.

Oh, and the drought? It’s still with us.

I’ll guess that Amarillo’s daily water use gauge is down … considerably. That, too, is a good thing.

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Drought far from broken

Just so that we’re clear: The drought that has gripped the Texas Panhandle for, oh, the past four years is far from being broken.

Despite the rain we’ve enjoyed the past couple of days and the anticipated rain that’s expected to fall during the next couple of days, the drought remains quite intact.

Last time I looked, Amarillo’s year-to-date precipitation level — even with the amounts we’ve had since the middle of the week — is but a fraction of where it’s supposed to be.

Yes, our playas are full of water. Many of the streams that had gone dry have water running through them. The grass is greener. The air is fresher. We’re all walking with a bit more of a spring in our step.

The drought? It ain’t going anywhere until we get a lot more rainfall.

I hasten to add that a year ago we had a spate of rain that gave us hope. Then it stopped raining. Do you recall what happened then? The ground turned dry, just like it had been before the rain came. It didn’t take long for the conditions to return to what we had known; that’s what the summer heat around here can do.

Long-range forecasts aren’t too promising. They project more dry weather and warmer-than-normal temperatures. Some experts do suggest a possible change in Pacific Ocean currents and a possible return of El Nino, the warming of the ocean water that produces more cloud cover that moves inland and brings moisture. Whether it materializes remains anyone’s guess.

We’re all grateful beyond measure for what we’ve gotten — and what we’re expected to get. Perhaps all those prayers have brought it. Who can dispute the power of prayer?

Maybe a good bit more prayer can bring an end to the drought.

It can’t hurt.