Lake Wichita Lily Pads Enjoy Record Breaking Rain

On Sunday, after eye witnessing their drought parched misery, I blogged that Wichita Falls Lily Pads Desperately Need Rain.

The next day, as in yesterday, which was Monday, the lily pad prayers were answered with a record breaking amount of rain falling on Wichita Falls and much of North Texas.

Record breaking, as in five inches, give or take a fraction of an inch, depending on where you were getting downpoured on.

Today my bike and I returned to Lake Wichita to see how those parched lily pads were fairing after yesterday's deluge.

As you can see, above, the lily pad creek again has water.

Muddy water.

The flood of water appears to have taken the lily pads by surprise. This appeared to be the case because the lily pads are in a state of disarray, coated with mud, and floating a bit cockeyed.

Enough rain fell to raise the level of Lake Wichita, but not enough to cause water to spill over the Lake Wichita dam's spillway.

Wichita Falls Lily Pads Desperately Need Rain

Sunday morning I joined 56 other walkers, joggers and bikers on the Circle Trail to circle around Mount Wichita and cross Lake Wichita Dam.

Lately every day has rain and thunderstorms in the forecast, with every day passing without any rain, except for the drip of a drop or two.

And no thunder booming.

A couple days ago I heard a weather reporting person on one of the local TV stations say the Wichita Falls zone is back in drought mode.

As you can see it does look as if Mount Wichita has not been being irrigated lately, with brown now the dominant color, along with the grassy field which surrounds the only mountain in Wichita Falls, also mostly brown.

And then there are those lily pads I've made mention of a time or two.

The creek from whence those lily pads bloomed is now totally dried up. And yet one lily blooms, at the bottom of the group of lily pads you see above.

The lily pad roots must go deep to manage to keep being green after the creek's water has disappeared.

I may have to go visit my mom in the Arizona desert if I want to get wet in a rainstorm. Lately whenever my mom calls me she tells me the night before she experienced the biggest downpour ever. Along with thunder and lightning...

Another 100 Degree Wichita Falls Day With Lily Pads

I do not remember any 100 degree days last summer in Texas. I do remember multiple 100 degree plus days in Arizona last summer. And late last spring.

This year, before summer even made its arrival we went over 100 at my Texas location.

And in May I got blasted over 100 in Arizona. If I remember right it was a record breaking 105 one day in May in the Valley of the Sun.

On Wednesday, when I drove to the DFW zone, I stupidly turned my A/C off. The temperature that day reached 107 according to one of my heat measuring devices. When I re-entered my abode, some time after 5 in the afternoon, the interior temperature was 93. It took awhile for the air condition to condition the air to a comfortable level of cool.

Today is another day where we are scheduled to go over 100. Around 11 this morning, when the air was still relatively cool, at 90, and with a strong wind blowing, I opted to roll my wheels on the Circle Trail to Lake Wichita.

The past few times when I have rolled to Lake Wichita I have noticed lily pads popping up in a creek which feeds into Lake Wichita.

Today those lily pads had greatly increased in numbers, and a couple of them were spouting lilies.

In the above photo you see my handlebars looking at some of those aforementioned lily pads. The handlebars are on the bridge the Circle Trail crosses soon after it leaves the top of Lake Wichita Dam.

The blooming lily pad is too small to see clearly in the above photo. Let's zoom in for a closer look.

I have zero clue regarding the botanical facts regarding lily pads. As in what causes them to suddenly be so prolific? Is this sprouting of so many lily pads indicative of the relative purity of the water from which they are sprouting?

Or do lily pads thrive in relatively polluted water?

I suspect lily pads do not thrive in polluted water. I have never seen a lily pad adding color to the Trinity River as it slogs its way through Fort Worth...