40 Days and 40 Nights

[Mtn. States Resident]

Originally Posted by banjomike

Bonneville county has gotten 3 inches of rain so far in August.
That is more than 6 times the average rainfall for the month, and I'm beginning to feel like Noah. Almost every day this month begins sunny, but by late afternoon or so, here comes the rain. And it's not typical light summer rain. This is jungle monsoon rain!

All this rain has severely damaged the crops, and the ground is so saturated here in places that some basements are beginning to leak. The Idaho Falls Chukars baseball games have been rained out, and the thunderstorms have created a lot of lightning, always dangerous when it's striking close to parks, ballfields, and other popular open public spaces.

We are supposed to get a break next week, and I sure hope we do. This place really needs to dry out and warm up!

…but at least, all this moisture brought an early end to the fire season, and Idaho's water is now at average levels, so we're going into the winter with much less threat of drought for next year.

It's so wet that the ripe grain crops are sprouting in the head.

The last time I remember that happening was 1968. I was on the other side of the country then and called home. My father said 2/3 or our wheat crop was lost, and he had never seen the sprouting happen before in his life. I never expected to see it in mine.

After so many years of drought here, I don't know if I should complain or not, since most of the west remains in deep, serious drought. A precipitation map shows only Oregon, Washington, Idaho, and parts of Utah and Montana to be currently drought free. But that doesn't make me any happier when I think about our farmers.

Mike,

As you know I posted in the Idaho Falls sub-forum during the really dry, hot time about the risk of fire to our grain and Barley crops. You were one of two who posted a response.

The wheat wasn't quite ready to be harvested. As the days passed some farmers actually cut for a day or maybe two. Then the monsoons came. My brother had 1,500 of acres of wheat this year. Essentially, it's all lost. They'll harvest it when they can as it's probably feed quality and I know others need the straw for livestock.

The soil is very saturated. It's not enough to have just 3-4 dry days. Then more rain next week.... He told me he's got three weeks of grain combining and potato harvest will start in 3.5 weeks.

Often with new businesses moving into the state and new urban residents relocating there are many questions about doesn't Idaho have X store yet etc. It's easy to sort out those who are clueless Idaho was built starting with an agricultural basis.

I don't know the exact amount of the various grain crops lost in all of southern ID yet. It's as if most of the media is so clueless after all the Labor Day Weekend is coming up and I just heard someone on radio talking about what to do that is fun.

I think people need fun but part of what has made ID the state it is was the awareness of our friends, neighbors and relatives among others when bad things happened. We knew in eastern ID about Micron and other businesses in the state being set back. There is a way to tone down the fun on radio or at least acknowledge what has happened in one's home county.

ID will be applying for federal programs given how many farmers lost so much. But some have to emphasize what a hard week they've had (media) when farmers have lost a year's worth of their work and the costs of growing the crops. It's just a matter of time when those pursuing fun will be paying more for everything from beer to bread. So will everyone else.

I didn't know this happened in the 60s too. I've never seen anything like the sprouting in the mature wheat. I suppose I should take some pictures for the sake of history. I can't do that yet.

Thanks for starting this thread I couldn't.

MSR

[juneaubound]

Someone sent this picture to me late last week. Snow in the mountains around Challis.


We moved to a tiny town in the middle of the Snake River Plain the third week in July last year. The rest of July and the entire month of August last year was blast-furnace hot, and the desert and buttes around us were all beige. The green had all disappeared in the "scorched earth" of non-stop sun and heat.

This year was the same until the end of July. The entire month of August has been a series of a couple of days of mild temperatures and then a couple of days of hard rain (with thunder and lightning and a inconsolable dog who can't find any safe place to hide in the house). It has rarely made it to 80 degrees through this month, there have been many days in the low 70s and a surprising number of overcast and wet days where it didn't get above 60. Night and day difference from last year.

I am sorry about the challenges this weather has produced for farmers. But I have to selfishly say that I LOVE the weather we have had in our area this past month.

ETA: Forgot to say that I saw a picture last week of a tornado that touched down in Mackay (Mackay! Mountains!) and got a call from a friend in Arco late last week saying that Arco was under a tornado warning and that the winds were causing his house to shake and rattle.