Lucky to have survived this Ozarks springtime

It was so dry earlier this year that the water level in the lakes nearby were so low that watery coves dried up. Some boats, like these at a marina in Udall, MO still moored at their docks, sat in the mud.

It all began to change in mid-April, when the rain began.

Image via Wikipedia The rain promised to aid the annual resurgence of flora and fauna. Trouble is, it didn't stop raining. At one point after a night of heavy rain, the rain gauge read '14 inches.' That was followed by four inches and then three inches. That continued for almost two weeks. I've since lost count. Suffice it to say we are now close to 40 inches of rain in a little over a month. Because we live on a hillside, we have had no ill effects from all that rain. In fact, I loved every minute of it. Our backyard resembled a tropical rain forest. To me, there is no better smell than the woods after a rain.  
  
Such heavy rain combined with a huge snow melt in the northern states, all draining into the Mississippi River, caused record-setting flooding in the nation's largest river and its tributaries. The great flood of 2011 has claimed thousands of acres and produced millions of dollars in damage in several states. 

In mid April, heavy moisture rising from the Gulf of Mexico with unseasonably warm temperatures collided with the cold dry air from the north. Fueled by an ambitious jet stream the result was an outbreak of severe storms.  
Image via WikipediaOn April 26, a tornado aimed at a major population center. Severe damage occurred in St. Louis, MO. Though there were no serious injuries or deaths reported, the 22-mile storm path devastated property. Even Lambert Airport took a direct hit. Both the airport and the interstate highway that feeds it were closed for a time.

A day later, a severe weather outbreak wreaked havoc on the southern states killing 232 people in six states. It seemed to zero in on Tuscaloosa, AL when an EF4 twister claimed 131 lives.

On Sunday, May 22, Mother Nature's destructive side spawned the devastating EF5 tornado that decimated huge chunks of Joplin, MO. To date, 126 people are known dead with hundreds still missing or unaccounted for. The Joplin tornado now eclipses the death toll from the 1953 tornado in Flint, MI, making it the eighth-deadliest U.S. tornado on record. More than 500 people have been killed in tornado outbreaks this Spring.

 

A rain-swollen White River downstream from Bull Shoals dam

In my locale, the tremendous amounts of rainfall has caused local flooding in low-lying areas. Dams built throughout the White River basin to store flood water until it can safely be released have filled to their brim as heavy rain has been relentless. Just a few months ago we couldn't wring a drop of moisture from the sky. Now it seems as if a spigot is stuck in the 'on' position.

Even though our little acreage has been relatively untouched by the most severe weather, these events have been too close for comfort. It has been unnerving to be suddenly awakened during a sound sleep by the blare of the weather radio toning its many warnings. From flash flooding to severe thunderstorms to tornado watches and warnings, the nerves are frayed by this very active season.

I am grateful for the technology that warns us, allowing enough time to take action to protect ourselves. In Joplin, there was about a 25-minute warning before the storm hit. Undoubtedly lives were saved.

During a severe weather event, I monitor the events all around. As long as the satellite receiver can retain a signal, the television is tuned to the weather channel. When the weather is severe, the local stations break into regular programming and provide minute-to-minute coverage. Even though we are in Arkansas, our local channels originate in Springfield, MO. I have to give a shout out to KY3 which seems to do the best job for us. I noticed that even some of my favorite stations returned to regular programming once Springfield was out of danger. We were still threatened however. KY3 continued its weather coverage until the threat had passed. I also keep my laptop computer on Intellicast, my personal favorite weather site. It updates the radar regularly and allows me to zoom into my own backyard. I can literally watch the radar as the storm approaches our house. My personal preparedness also includes a portable police scanner, so we can monitor local emergency traffic.

I am not complaining. For me, the more than thirty inches of rain that has fallen over our little five acres on a hillside has brought nothing but personal pleasure.

Trees once ailing from drought conditions are no longer stressed. In fact, all of the plants in the yard this year are thriving. The vegetable garden shows great promise.

There was one storm during these numerous events that produced gusty winds and quarter-sized hail. Even as we cringed at the ice balls hitting our windows, we know we were lucky.

The damage was obvious, but not severe. The bleeding hearts come to mind. Beneath the eaves, I would have thought they would have been protected. Instead, their once show-stopping beauty was marred by the overnight storm. They looked as though they were trampled upon. A beautiful crop of purple iris and their neighboring Mock Orange and Azalea bushes were broken and more horizontal than vertical. Some of the tomato plants in the vegetable garden had been broken and battered. A few petunias showed some battle scars on their otherwise velvety-textured petals. Fortunately a quick pruning was all they needed. Since it is early in the growing season, they will easily compensate for the damage.

Probably the most obvious resultant was the scattering of new and fully-grown oak leaves. The trees had finally fully dressed with its neon foliage--in a process that seemed to last an eternity after their long winter of nakedness. The hail pelted the trees as the wind whipped the tree tops. Small branches were broken. Leaves, filled the yard. No single area was spared from the lawn, to the gardens, and even onto the covered porch.

We have been lucky. Tornado season is not yet over. I hope that luck holds out for the rest of the season.

Ozarks frost

A friend mentioned to me yesterday that we were supposed to have our first frost, here in the Ozarks. I checked my favorite weather map at Intellicast.com to learn that he was probably incorrect. Nevertheless I'm grateful for his warning because I did begin the arduous process of bringing my favorite plants indoors. I didn't bring them all in, however.

There are lots of chores to do before it gets really cold and this is a good time to do them. It has been cold enough that those pesky chiggers aren't so prevalent--and neither are the many, many spiders we had late summer--so working in the yard might just be fun.

I live in a small ranch house with north-facing windows. It is pretty dark, which I am not happy about. It is built to stay cool in the heat of the summer, but I really miss the bright sunshine in the room. And there are no windows in the kitchen (which I will always hate) but it is an open concept with the kitchen sink overlooking the dining room and living room. The saving grace is the large south-facing window just beyond the kitchen where I can keep some plants. There is also a lovely sun porch, which is the ideal place for my plants. It isn't heated, but it benefits from the warmth of the rest of the house.

I also have five cats--four of which are two-year old litter-mate kittens, who like nothing more than to get into everything--so I'm a little apprehensive about this plant thing. The girls just love to knock things off tables and jump onto things, plus the unmentionable cat problem with dirt. I'm going to try to dust the plants with cinnamon. I read someplace that cats don't like cinnamon and that will keep them away. Yeah right!

So far, none of those things have ever worked for me. I recall the hot pepper to keep squirrels off the bird feeders. Hah! They ate it. I suspect my cats are at least as naughty as squirrels.

While we are not expected to have our first frost where I live--it has occurred in other places in the Ozarks already--until later in the month, I have some time to bring in the remainder. Perhaps if I sneak a few in at a time the girls' curiosity won't overwhelm their good sense of right and wrong (as if they had that anyway).

Today is predicted to be 70º and the sun is already shining brightly. I can't think of anything I would rather do than some re-potting, cleaning up and generally working with greenery.

Weather watching in real time

Do you find yourself getting stressed out over certain weather predictions? I know I certainly do.

For days, meteorologists from the local television stations to the Weather Channel and CNN were warning that we, in Arkansas, were about to get deluged by rain and severe storms.

I tend to take real notice of these predictions, since the weather seems to be a bit extreme lately. We have all seen, thanks to the Weather Channel's Storm Stories and plain, old, regular news broadcasts, what Mother Nature can do to us when she really wants to raise a ruckus.

Needless to say, I was a little uneasy as the predicted cold front was about to meet our 80-degree atmosphere head-on. Sure enough, storms started forming, as predicted.

This situation has made me really grateful to today's computer technology. I cranked up the laptop set to my favorite weather site--Intellicast.com. I have used this site for quite some time, even though there are probably many others now that offer the same thing.

This one, however, was cutting-edge when I first got interested in such things. It remains my favorite. I have an Intellicast widget on my Google start page that allows me to see the weather at a glance in my area.

As the storm approached, I watched it bearing down. I have placed a marker where my house is located. Intellicast lets you zoom in close--close enough to identify roads and landmarks. I could actually watch the weather as it approached--not just the neighborhood, but my house.

This is a great tool. I was able to watch a break in the clouds that I could corroborate by having no rain outside. When the big orange blob came back, the rain wailed outside. This gives a better understanding when there are tornado warnings or severe thunderstorm warnings. It is an excellent visual that allows you to watch exactly what is happening in real time.

What a far cry from the days when no one ever really knew what was happening. We were at the mercy of Mother Nature. How many people have died in tornadoes that they didn't know were coming.

When people talk about how technology is ruling our lives, I just smile. I love this techno age. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Obsessed with weather

I'm obsessed with weather. I don't begin the day without at least one weather report, and sometimes several. If it is predicted to be an active weather day, I spend time watching the weather channel.

"You are the only people I know that watch the weather channel like it is a real show," said my daughter-in-law, about my son and me.

If there is any hint of rain, I use the remote, of which I'm always in control much to my husband's chagrin, to quickly reconnect with weather channel. I'm always searching for the weather on the 8's. My biggest pet peeve is turning to the weather channel during a commercial only to find a commercial there as well. I remember when the weather channel didn't have commercials. Those were good times.

Several times during the day I gaze at my computer to check out the local radar screen, promptly displayed on the top of my iGoogle start page. I use intellicast.com because:

- 1) It is the least intrusive to the workings of Sybil. I named my computer Sybil after the movie where Sally Field possessed multiple personalities. It seemed to fit.

- 2) Intellicast provides an instant look at current, local radar. Just one click provides a looped view, showing the path of a potential storm.

- 3) Intellicast shows various other maps, such as moisture, weather watches, storm tracking, global weather, and even the latest influenza report.

- I love Intellicast's pan and zoom feature. It lets you zero in on your own rooftop, so you can watch a storm relative to where you live.

- 4) With the kind of weather we have had of late, it is nice to know those bow echoes aren't aiming at us.

Thanks to the meteorologists on the weather channel, weather watching has become much more sophisticated. As a local reporter in Illinois I covered a story where members of the fire department took a weather spotters class. That means I got to take it too. It was fascinating and I highly recommend it.

I really love weather. Last year, we received 13 inches of rain. It was awesome. Because we live on a hill in the forest, the water just runs downhill toward a wet weather creek in the backyard. The sounds of the water rushing, the site of our yard transformed into a tropical rain forest, and the smell of the woods combine into a sensory delight. I love rainy days.

I think part of my interest in weather came from my grandfather. In fact, as I've gotten older, I think I've become him.

He lived in Michigan; we lived in Chicago. His visits were always a happy time, at least until 10 p.m. That was when he would put his finger to his lips and say, "Shhh, the news is on." He then devoted all his concentration to Fahey Flynn and P.J. Hoff, Chicago's local news and weather guys back in the 1950's. That was back when news and weather combined was only 15 minutes in duration. Sports scores were a mere mention back then.

When he and my grandmother moved away, I used to write him. His letters always began with a weather report. I noticed recently, that when talking to friends, I do it too.

That was so long ago. But as the times have changed, the tradition has not, at least in our household. I find myself shhh-ing just as Grandpa did whenever the news and weather is on. I always strain to hear the latest, amid all the noises that accompany a household with six cats, a dog, and a husband, telephones, and other distractions. The older I get, the more of a challenge it is to hear different noises at the same time. But then, I did live in too close proximity to airplanes and trains for an entire lifetime.

I wonder what Gramps would think of today's news and weather coverage around the clock and in so many varied ways. I bet he would be amazed. So the cycle continues.

Gramps died more than 25 years ago. I miss him. If he was here, he wouldn't have to shhhhh me.