Drought

[stormy]

.78" rainfall to date for July. Normal for July 19 would be 2.66"

30% of normal rainfall for July.

[StormchaserChuck!]

we are either going to flood the Earth a little bit or get drier and drier.. I'm rooting for the first option. July 2018 was pretty cool, 18"

[wxdude64]

Sitting at 1.02 " for the month here, my driest July on record is 1.76" from 1998, then 2.33" from 1995 and 2.47" from 1996 (my, I forgot HOW dry the late 90's were!) so I am on pace to at least finish top 5 unless a good soaking comes along last 10 days.

[wxdude64]

On 7/20/2021 at 12:07 PM, wxdude64 said:

Sitting at 1.02 " for the month here, my driest July on record is 1.76" from 1998, then 2.33" from 1995 and 2.47" from 1996 (my, I forgot HOW dry the late 90's were!) so I am on pace to at least finish top 5 unless a good soaking comes along last 10 days.

Still sitting at 1.02", MAYBE today or tomorrow will return the rains

[EastCoast NPZ]

On 6/15/2021 at 7:33 AM, nj2va said:

I'll take a month of no rain please.

Move here, you'll get 4 months of it.

[CAPE]

There is an area of D0 and a small area within that of D1 in west-central VA.

https://droughtmonitor.unl.edu/CurrentMap/StateDroughtMonitor.aspx?Southeast

[WxUSAF]

Ouch. Under 0.05” for MBY through D10 on the euro.

[nw baltimore wx]

17 minutes ago, WxUSAF said:

Ouch. Under 0.05” for MBY through D10 on the euro.

If you’re anything like me, as soon as you cross the bay bridge, you won’t care.

[MN Transplant]

0.06" in the last two weeks.  I hate this time of year.

[Stormfly]

Corn looks *perfect* here.  Matter of fact it's been that way for years.  Gone are the tassels at waist height in the late 80s.  That was truly something to complain about!

[WxUSAF]

Outside of the lucky ones who get a thunderstorm, looks pretty damn dry for awhile. 

[mappy]

24 minutes ago, WxUSAF said:

Outside of the lucky ones who get a thunderstorm, looks pretty damn dry for awhile. 

Mr Map mowed Saturday the 17th, then we were away. Grass didn't grow, much, while we were gone so I assume any storms that happened during the week didn't hit the house. The rain last night was welcomed. 

[H2O]

We always have a dry stretch. Every summer. Like clockwork. Brown grass and trees dropping leaves

[mattie g]

Just now, H2O said:

We always have a dry stretch. Every summer. Like clockwork. Brown grass and trees dropping leaves

Yup - there's no way around it. Is it drought though?

[H2O]

1 minute ago, mattie g said:

Yup - there's no way around it. Is it drought though?

Any time it goes 4 days without rain it is a drought

[Stormfly]

1 hour ago, H2O said:

We always have a dry stretch. Every summer. Like clockwork. Brown grass and trees dropping leaves

Cutting grass higher (ex. 4") goes a long way to prevent browning.  Too many folks are shaving their grass and when it dries up it looks horrible.  I have about 4 acres of grass that's smooth cut here and don't mind the drier periods as I can go a month between mowings.  I just cut this Sat and the last time I cut was Independence Day.  It's thick, predominately K31 fescue and a lot of crabgrass in between but it's green and we don't have erosion on the hilly parts so all is well.  We have two wells on the property with one doing 20+ gpm slightly acidic soft water so no worries with watering gardens and ornamental shrubs.

[H2O]

3 minutes ago, Stormfly said:

Cutting grass higher (ex. 4") goes a long way to prevent browning.  Too many folks are shaving their grass and when it dries up it looks horrible.  I have about 4 acres of grass that's smooth cut here and don't mind the drier periods as I can go a month between mowings.  I just cut this Sat and the last time I cut was Independence Day.  It's thick, predominately K31 fescue and a lot of crabgrass in between but it's green and we don't have erosion on the hilly parts so all is well.  We have two wells on the property with one doing 20+ gpm slightly acidic soft water so no worries with watering gardens and ornamental shrubs.

Oh I don’t mind not mowing and the brown grass. I’ve been raising the blade every year and have my mower up higher than I usually do. They said letting grass brown up makes it stronger cause the roots go deeper. I’ll mow only when needed when my weeds get too tall compared to the grass that went dormant lol

[nw baltimore wx]

For all the cool season grasses, browning is its way of saving itself. For most of us, it’ll all green up in the fall, so I’ll enjoy the mid season break from mowing.

[Stormfly]

Yes it never dies, just goes dormant.  But try to tell that to all the folks with sprinklers.

[MN Transplant]

5 hours ago, mattie g said:

Yup - there's no way around it. Is it drought though?

Not a drought, but it is obnoxious anyway.

[CAPE]

Mine dies. Gives up. Brown = thatch here. That isn't coming back.

Doesn't correlate to dry/drought though.

[wxdude64]

2 hours ago, CAPE said:

Mine dies. Gives up. Brown = thatch here. That isn't coming back.

Doesn't correlate to dry/drought though.

Same here, why I am watering every third day now, trying to keep some grass around. BTW, ALL the storms yesterday managed to miss this area (again), still at 1.02 for the month, 0.44 of that fell on the 2nd. Dry, dry. 

[nw baltimore wx]

3 hours ago, CAPE said:

Mine dies. Gives up. Brown = thatch here. That isn't coming back.

Doesn't correlate to dry/drought though.

I would think the problem there is soil related. Too much sand. As for @wxdude64, maybe rocky???

[CAPE]

15 minutes ago, nw baltimore wx said:

I would think the problem there is soil related. Too much sand. As for @wxdude64, maybe rocky???

Its a loamy soil-sand/silt. I think the biggest issue is all the trees, but the soil and heat factor in too. It always does great from April into early June. The stuff I planted this time seems to holding up a tiny bit better, but in the end I will have to reseed most of it. Luckily I have reduced the area I care about to probably a quarter acre.

[frd]

On 7/26/2021 at 10:18 AM, nw baltimore wx said:

For all the cool season grasses, browning is its way of saving itself. For most of us, it’ll all green up in the fall, so I’ll enjoy the mid season break from mowing.

I believe maximum time the grass can go dormant without additional water to the root crowns is between 21 days and 28 days. So eventually you need to water to save the grass from not coming back in the Fall, or hope you get an inch in the next 21 days .  

[frd]

On 7/26/2021 at 10:46 AM, Stormfly said:

Yes it never dies, just goes dormant.  But try to tell that to all the folks with sprinklers.

Also this:

 

 Disadvantages: Difficult to tell when turf is getting too dry and needs water to stay alive; lawn is brown and has poor aesthetics; hard soil makes turf less usable for recreation; turf is more susceptible to injury and will not recover until rain returns; some thinning and turf death can occur if there is no rain for 4-6 weeks and no irrigation is applied.

Patton emphasized that when lawns are dry, it is important to stay off them. Mowers and other heavy equipment can cause substantial damage to vulnerable, stressed grass. Once rains return, the turf will begin to recover and grow new leaves within two weeks.

For more information about keeping lawns healthy during the drought, visit https://purdueturftips.blogspot.com/ 

 

 

[CAPE]

Been 7 days with no rain here. Drought!

[dailylurker]

48 minutes ago, CAPE said:

Been 7 days with no rain here. Drought!

It's been 3 weeks here. Grass is fried and I'm getting tired of watering. I want my swamp back lol

[CAPE]

1 minute ago, dailylurker said:

It's been 3 weeks here. Grass is fried and I'm getting tired of watering. I want my swamp back lol

Definitely not the same as last year for the coastal plain. I am over 5" for the month here but it seems dry. It has been pretty "normal" rainfall since May.

[EastCoast NPZ]

3 hours ago, CAPE said:

Definitely not the same as last year for the coastal plain. I am over 5" for the month here but it seems dry. It has been pretty "normal" rainfall since May.

I'd give a kidney for 5" in a month.

I dont have 5" since May 3rd.