Folks, I don’t know about ya’ll, but this April is bringing some wicked weather. Conditions in Arkansas have been dry since our 9.5 inches of rain on Christmas Eve 2009. 2010 ended up being more than 15 inches in the hole and at the beginning of this week we were already 3 inches behind average for 2011.
Most of Arkansas, Louisiana, Texas, and much of Oklahoma have been and are under drought conditions ranging from slight to extreme. The recent fires in Texas have burned over 1.5 million acres, destroyed hundreds of structures, and misplaced many families and farmers. Keep those affected in your thoughts and prayers. Oklahoma City was only 0.02 inches from the driest March on record. If you can tell a difference in 0.02 inches of rain, you’re better than I ever will be.
Last year’s record heat and drought has affected many calf crops in Southern Arkansas, according to talks with vets and neighbors. Let’s hope things improve this year. In the last two weeks we have received 3.5 inches of rain, after being extremely dry for the first 3 months of the year. Tornadoes have been rampant this Spring; killing over 40 people in the South East last week, breaking records for April tornadoes, and creating the most power outages in Arkansas since this ice storm of 2009.
Tuesday night another round of tornadic storms moved thorugh our area, bringing straight line wind damage, knocking out portions of our hay barn, downing trees, branches, and bringing 1.25″ of rain. Last night a round of flooding storms moved through. I have yet to check the rain gauge today. We really appriciate the moisture, but let’s keep everyone safe during this Wicked Spring Weather.
**UPDATE** Went to check the rain gauge this morning and we received a touch over 5 inches of rain. Most of the ponds are now running over, the bottoms are flooded out and area lakes rose more than 1.5 foot so far. Much welcomed rain.
