Weather ... again

[Chappers51]

We have rain.
I was hoping for a warm, relaxing day after waiting on my nephew and his family for 3 days, but I’m not complaining (about the weather).
We need the rain and I managed to get all of their bedding washed and dried this morning.

[exile]

Well that'll teach me for moaning about the lack of rain.

A bit of a shower around lunch time that did at least manage to wet all of the ground but be late afternoon when I went to dig up some potatoes for dinner you would not have known it had rained.

And then early evening and the storm rolled in - with a vengeance.
We had at least 55mm of rain in around 25 minutes. I know this because the accompanying winds must have blown a leaf or leaves off the pot plants on our suspended terrace. These then blocked the drain down to the water butt one storey below and the terrace was under said 55mm water and in danger of reaching the threshold into the house. I had to paddle out and deblock the rainwater outlet. At least the water butts are now full.

[Quiksilver]

Lucky you, exile! We were forecast between 4 and 28mm (plenty of leeway there!). We've had 0.4mm. Barely dampened the 'grass'. It's sooo disappointing when hopes are built up and then dashed. Better to just plan for 4 months of drought and be done with it

[exile]

Lucky? maybe but that amount of rain in such a short period can have serious consequence. I have just checked vigicrues and the station in the valley showed the river rose nearly a quarter of a metre in 20 Minutes which can have consequences downstream. It does look as if it was very localised and adjacent river basins do not seem to have been as affected or indeed not affected at all.

I take the point of planning for drought though which is why we capture rainwater from just about every downpipe. But in extra hot and dry conditions as we have enjoyed, that disappears very quickly.

[Quiksilver]

Too right! We put in 2 x 3,000l collection tanks to take the roof run-off from the house, and then 4 x 1,000l IBCs for garage and cold store rooves. It's still not enough....What is heartbreaking, though, is that we end up emptying the IBCs onto the field several times through the winter, all the while knowing how precious that water would be now. I wonder if, in future, houses could be constructed on some sort of huge, hollow, concrete storage tanks. Probably not, given that not everyone is a keen gardener

[RobertArthur]

Broken promises.

Weather forecast for tuesday-wednesday: Burgundy, vigilance orange, orages et fortes pluies. Windstill, not a drop of rain.

Yesterday evening: promising skies. Again a silent night in summertime, not a drop of rain.

[exile]

I agree that the forecasts have gone to pot this summer - even my Norwegian forecasters have changed their minds during the course of the day and then are still wrong. Meteo France however seems to be even worse.

Pure speculation, but is global warming creating such instability that the modelling programs are no longer reliable? Certainly my impression of the Jet Stream is that it is much less stable than it has historically been at this time of year. My theory of that stability is that it made the St Swithens day prediction something that was more often true than not.

[Blaze]

Some welcome drops rain here, but gentle showers which are unlikely to do much good other than give the leaves a good watering.

[RobertArthur]

From a digital temperature meter to an analoque one, 03:30 pm. No rain. Grass showing yellow colours and speed of growth slowing down.

Mother Nature strikes back: now the bees have gone we drink lots of coffee. Coffee ground in their tunnels to discourage moles here in the garden. What took them so long? For the first time in 22 years. Conclusion: count your blessings.

[Lori]

Well, it looks like we are beginning this Fall much like last year, if the forecast is to be believed. Very few days with sunshine. Rain dominates. I can only hope it will change. Rain from now til May (like last year) would be quite depressing.

There's a bit of sunshine out there now. Rain expected to arrive by 16h00.