Posted on 04/05/2013 11:46:40 AM PDT by US Navy Vet
A major storm next week is poised to bring much needed rain, heavy snow and dangerous thunderstorms to the Plains.
The main storm will be preceded by a lesser system with spotty rain, snow and thunderstorms during late Sunday into Monday. However, the main event over the Plains will begin Monday night and Tuesday and will sprawl eastward as the week progresses.
(Excerpt) Read more at accuweather.com ...
B-b-but... global warming...
That’s the beauty of weather. There’s ALWAYS a crisis somewhere, and it can be attributed to evil carbon.
NBCU buying the Weather Channel and converting it to a branch of MSNBC was an awesome strategy.
Is there a crisis?
Record drought, heat slashed Iowa corn, soybean yields
...Looking ahead, the USDA at its annual Outlook Forum [for 2013] on Friday forecast U.S. corn supplies will more than triple, following a record large harvest in the fall, as strong competition from Brazil and Argentina limit U.S. exports and ethanol production stays flat.
The USDA projected a corn crop of 14.53 billion bushels, up 35 percent from the drought-slashed crop of 2012, assuming normal weather and yields. The agency estimated prices for corn will tumble by 28 percent to $4.80 a bushel.
The U.S. soybean crop is projected at a record 3.4 billion bushels this year, a 13 percent increase from 2012′s drought-hit crop, according to the USDA. With the larger crop, soybean use was forecast to rise by 3 percent. The USDA estimated season-average soybean prices will range from $13.55 to $15.05 per bushel, up 5 cents on both ends of the range from 2012...
Have we had our last freeze in the DC Metropolitan area. I want to put my potted plants back outside? :-(
HYDROLOGIC SUMMARY AND OUTLOOK...
MARCH HAS SEEN ONE RAINFALL EVENT WHICH HELPED TO PUSH MONTHLY
RAINFALL TOTALS TO NEAR AVERAGE VALUES. TEMPERATURES HAVE BEEN
SLIGHTLY COOLER THAN AVERAGE TO NEAR AVERAGE OVER THE RIO GRANDE
PLAINS. LAKE LEVELS ARE REMAINING NEARLY STEADY OR FALLING.
WITH TEMPERATURES BEGINNING TO THE EVAPORATION RATES WILL INCREASE.
THE MAIN DROUGHT CONCERNS ARE CURRENTLY SHORT AND LONG TERM
HYDROLOGIC IMPACTS.
THE 7 DAY STREAM FLOW AVERAGES WERE MUCH BELOW NORMAL
(LESS THAN 10 PERCENT) ACROSS THE COLORADO...GUADALUPE...NUECES
AND FRIO RIVER BASINS. THE RIO GRANDE BASIN REPORTED BELOW NORMAL
(10 TO 24 PERCENT) FLOWS. THE SAN ANTONIO BASIN REPORTED NORMAL
(25 TO 75 PERCENT) FLOWS.
RESERVOIR CONDITIONS AS OF MARCH 15TH...
AREA LAKES...RIVERS AND RESERVOIRS REMAIN BELOW NORMAL POOL
ELEVATIONS.
BELOW IS A LIST OF RESERVOIRS WITH THE LATEST ELEVATIONS AND
NORMAL POOLS.
NORMAL POOL LATEST ELEVATION DIFFERENCE
(FT) (FT) (FT)
LAKE AMISTAD 1117 1065.8 -51.2
MEDINA LAKE 1064.2 986.7 -77.5
CANYON LAKE 909 899.8 -9.2
LAKE GEORGETOWN 791 778.2 -12.8
LAKE BUCHANAN 1020 991.6 -28.4
LAKE TRAVIS 681 630.7 -50.3
MEDINA LAKE CONTINUES TO FALL AND WAS AT 7.2 PERCENT OF CAPACITY
AS OF MARCH 15, 2013.
RESTRICTIONS...
THE SAN ANTONIO WATER SYSTEM (SAWS) IS CURRENTLY IN STAGE 2 WATER
RESTRICTIONS. THERE IS CURRENTLY TALK THAT STAGE 3 MAY HAVE TO BE
IMPLEMENTED BY EARLY MAY IF THE DRY CONDITIONS CONTINUE. ONCE A
RESTRICTION IS IN PLACE...THAT RESTRICTION WILL BE IN EFFECT FOR
30 DAYS NO MATTER WHAT HAPPENS WITH THE AQUIFER LEVEL.
THE EDWARDS AQUIFER WAS READING 649.3 FEET AS OF MARCH 15TH. THIS
WAS 19.9 FEET BELOW THE HISTORICAL MONTHLY AVERAGE FOR MARCH WHICH
IS 669.2 FEET. THE AQUIFER LEVEL IS 13.6 FEET BELOW THE LEVEL
OBSERVED ON THIS DATE IN MARCH 2012.
MANY COMMUNITIES ACROSS SOUTH CENTRAL TEXAS CONTINUE TO HAVE
WATER RESTRICTIONS IN PLACE TO DUE LACK OF CONSISTENT RAINFALL.
STRICTER RESTRICTIONS COULD BE IMPLEMENTED AT ANY TIME IF THE
DRIER THAN NORMAL CONDITIONS PERSIST.
THE BARTON SPRINGS EDWARDS AQUIFER CONSERVATION DISTRICT REMAINS
IN STAGE 2 ALARM DROUGHT STATUS. IF SIGNIFICANT RAINFALL IS NOT
SEEN IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS...STAGE 3 ALARM DROUGHT STATUS MAY BE
REQUIRED IN THE NEXT FEW WEEKS.
UVALDE IS CURRENTLY IN STAGE 3 WATER RESTRICTIONS. AUSTIN IS
CURRENTLY IN STAGE 2 WATER RESTRICTIONS. SAN MARCOS AND KERRVILLE
ARE CURRENTLY IN STAGE 1 WATER RESTRICTIONS. ALL CITIES CONTINUE
TO WARN RESIDENTS THAT STRICTER RESTRICTIONS COULD RETURN AT ANY
TIME IF DRIER CONDITIONS CONTINUE.
LOCATIONS THAT DO NOT CURRENTLY HAVE MANDATORY RESTRICTIONS
CONTINUE TO STRONGLY PROMOTE YEAR ROUND WATER CONSERVATION.
Oh yes.
All is not perfect. Never is. Not even in fabulously productive Corn Belt.
And it’s also possible parts of Texas and the Great Plains (the area between the Missouri River and Rocky Mountains) were settled during a period of relatively rare abundance of water and are returning to ‘normal’.
If the “Great Plains” had an abundance of reliable rainwater, it would be “The Great Woods” instead of open plains...
hehe
But it is still possible the last 150 years may have been a ‘wet period’, and a drier climate is actually ‘normal’ there.
Iowa, the heart of the Corn Belt, was mostly swamp as recently as 150 years ago, but there weren’t many trees.
OH, lucky you! We are down 8” of rain this year in Southern California and our rain window is closing — we get very little rain between April and November or December.
This means more water rationing and drive-bys by the water police looking for wet sidewalks and broken sprinklers. People here are ripping out their lawns and planing gravel or cactus like in Arizona.
Please send the rain our way, we are desperate.
Coulda been.... :-)
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