The Dark Drought Free Dawn Of The 3rd Morning Of February In Texas

Looking through the bars of my patio prison cell, this third dark morning of February, you might guess, due to the grayish look to the sky above the pool, that we are under a cloud cover at my location on the planet.

You would be guessing correctly.

I was surprised when I stepped outside this morning to find myself being moisturized by a fine mist.

A couple downpours hit the ground before midnight last night.

With those downpours last night and the deluge from last week, apparently, this was enough water for something called the U.S. Drought Monitor to claim that the Great Texas Drought is over for the Dallas/Fort Worth zone.

According to these drought monitors a section of North Texas making up under 5 percent of the state is  now at drought free status.. This leaves almost 60 percent of Texas still too dry, with an extreme drought, and 27 percent of Texas parched at the highest level of drought.

Last night was warm to an almost borderline summer heat level of HOT. I do not recollect sleeping cover free at this time of year before. Last year at this time the furnace was running around the clock to combat the frigid freeze.

Even though it is 62 degrees this morning, I don't think I will be going swimming.

The First Saturday Of 2012 In Texas With A Record Breaking Drought In 2011

You can not tell it by looking at the picture of the view from my primary viewing portal on the outer world that I got up after the arrival of the sun on this first Saturday of the first month of the new year of 2012.

There appears to be some cloud action in the sky. I do not believe there is any prediction for today for rain to rain down up the throngs on the Tandy Hills partaking in the Manly Men Wild Women Hike.

It is currently only 44 degrees in the outer world at my location. By the time of the Manly Men Wild Women Hike, a couple hours from now, the temperature should be a pleasant hiking temperature.

Continuing with my favorite subject, the weather.

The National Weather Service has made it official. 2011 was the driest year ever in Texas.

And the second hottest.

The average rainfall on this parched part of the planet, for 2011, was only 14.88 inches. If I remember correctly 10 inches, or less, a year qualifies your parched part of the planet to be designated a desert.

The temperature average for 2011 was 67.2 degrees. In 1921 the average temperature was 67.5 degrees, so 1921 remains the hottest year in Texas.

The current 24 hour temperature average at my location has been above 50 degrees. I may try to go swimming this morning. I dipped my hand in the pool yesterday morning and decided against getting any wetter. We'll see if my hand feels warmer this morning.

Monster Wildfires Scorching Texas During Worst Drought Since The 1950s

In the picture you are looking at the current headline on Fox News online, in the early Labor Day evening.

Monster wildfires are scorching Texas.

Today, a wildfire burning near Austin killed 2 people and destroyed about 300 homes. This particular wildfire is advancing across parched ranch land, unchecked, on a 16 mile front. So far this fire has burned 17,500 acres.

Texas is in the midst of the worst drought since the 1950s.

So far, during this bad bout of wildfires I have yet to smell the burn of a single fire. The smoke from the Possum Kingdom Lake fires, burning to the west of my location, has not reached my olfactory senses.

Several years ago we had a bad wildfire outbreak in North Texas. I remember getting quite familiar with that acrid odor.

I recollect driving back to the D/FW Metroplex from the east and wondering what the strange black wall was that seemed to be advancing on D/FW.

It was the smoke from a massive wildfire.

I have never seen these parts of the planet as parched as they are right now. I've never seen the Tandy Hills looking like a tinderbox, like it is right now.

I suspect before we finally get some fire damping precipitation we are going to have a bad wildfire too close to the D/FW Metroplex, generating a wall of smoke and that awful acrid odor I really don't want to be smelling.

The Lawn Whisperer Has Found Another Victim Of Overwatering In His Quest To Save Texas Water

For a long time now I have been driving by the billboard you see in the picture on my way to the Tandy Hills. The billboard faces westbound traffic on I-30.

On the billboard a guy is looking at grass with a magnifying glass.

The billboard identifies the guy as The Lawn Whisperer and has him saying, "Looks like another victim of overwatering."

At the bottom of the billboard there is a website address, SaveNorthTexasWater.com.

Going to the website you meet The Lawn Whisperer again. You are directed to select the city you live in. I selected Fort Worth.

Selecting Fort Worth brought me to SaveTarrantWater.com, where I was advised to save water because nothing can replace it.

More important water information from Save Tarrant Water...

It's a drought out there.

Texas is experiencing the worst drought in more than half a century. No rain means our water supplies are taking a hit - outdoor watering plays a big role in how fast they go. When the combined storage capacity of TRWD reservoirs reaches 75%, TRWD will require it's municipal customers to initiate Stage 1 of its drought plan. The primary way to stretch our supplies and save water will be to limit outdoor watering to no more than twice per week. And although many of you do water efficiently, there are some who don't. Now is a good time to start. Thanks.

I wonder how many Lawn Whisperer billboards grace the Tarrant County landscape? I wonder how much the billboard ads cost? How much has been spent on the Save Texas Water websites? The Lawn Whisperer is also on Facebook.

How many gallons of water has all this propaganda saved?

No where in The Lawn Whisperer propaganda did I see mention made of the millions of gallons of water being taken from the Texas water supply by Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drillers.

Not only are millions of gallons of water being used to Frack wells, that water does not return to the water supply.

Plus, there have been instances where the Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drilling has contaminated the water supply of multiple hapless victims.

So, really, how much is all this water propaganda costing? How many gallons of water are alleged to be wasted by overwatering? Compared to the many gallons of water wasted by Fracking?

A Drought Resistant Wildflower Of Yellow Color Has Sprouted On The Tandy Hills

Due to the Texas Drought and day after day of temperatures over 100 degrees, the Tandy Hills Prairie is in full wilt mode.

Yet somehow, today, in multiple locations on the Tandy Hills, the bright yellow wildflower, you see in the picture, and its siblings, have bloomed.

Is this some sort of drought resistant flower which blooms when triggered by extremely dry conditions? I don't know.

What I do know is the bright yellow flower matched my own personal sunny disposition on this particular day.

It was 92 with a Real Feel Heat Index of 101 when I left air-conditioned comfort today. Upon my return it is now 96 with a supposed Real Feel Heat Index of 111.

I did not over heat on the hills today. A breeze was blowing. I think the humidity must be being lower, thus making the HEAT easier to tolerate.

Up Early The Second Tuesday Of July Thinking About Shocking The Trinity River & Betsy Price

I was up before the sun on this second Tuesday of July, but I did not look out my primary viewing portal on the world til the sun began lighting up the outdoor world.

I will not be visiting that blue oasis you see through the window this morning. The pool got its weekly shock treatment Monday afternoon. When the temperatures are over 100, day after day, the pool needs help to stay crystal clear.

I wonder if the Trinity River Vision Boondoggle has plans to shock the Trinity River prior to Thursday's third Rockin' the River Inner Tube Happy Hour Float of the summer?

Speaking of Rockin' the River, why was Thursday, a school/workweek night, picked as the day for  Happy Hour Inner Tube Floats? Rather than Friday or Saturday?

I read this morning that Texas lost 358 million gallons of water from the state's lakes in June. That sounds like an awful lot of water. The drought is currently being one of the worst in Texas history.

Continuing with the water, Rockin' the River theme, I got a very odd comment from the Ubiquitous Anonymous yesterday to a blogging a few days ago about Rockin' the River....

Though I understand your political stance, please refrain from commenting gars, gators and snakes do not belong in our ecosystem. They do. They won't hurt you. Treat them with respect to ensure others do. They are part of the food chain. Your disdain for such creatures is an attitude found in the very same people you purport to disagree with (yes, end, with a preposition). For all your meanderings, you steadfastly refuse to learn and appreciate the basic naturalism inherent in your outings. This disturbs my greatly. We do not live in a Pacific Northwest ecosystem .

I feel real bad about disturbing Anonymous greatly, but I don't recollect ever suggesting gars, gators and snakes do not belong in our ecosystem. I may have suggested, sort of, that inner tubers don't belong in a river where gars, gators and snakes try and make a living.

Also, I was not aware I have a political stance. I was aware that in my current location in Texas we do not live in a Pacific Northwest ecosystem.

On a non-water note, today Fort Worth is celebrating the installation of a new mayor, with Betsy Price replacing Mike Moncrief. I have a good feeling that Betsy Price is going to be a much better mayor than her predecessor. Eternal optimist that I be.

Today is my weekly take it easy day. This should have me cranky from endorphin withdrawal by about 10 this morning.

Up Early On The 6th Day Of July Wondering About The Texas Drought & The Phoenix Sandstorm

Almost a 5th of July has already come and gone. This is morning is the start of day #6 of July.

Looking through the bars of my patio prison cell at the pool oasis below and the sky above, you can sort of see that this day has dawned with yet one more bright clear cloud-free sky in Texas.

Speaking of being cloud-free. The Texas drought continues to worsen. This morning  brought the news that the Tarrant Regional Water District will be going into mandatory water restriction mode when the district's water supply drops to 75 percent of capacity.

Yesterday, in the short distance I drove by the Trinity River, I saw 3 instances of multiple pipelines sucking water out of the Trinity River by Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drillers.

In June Fort Worth broke its water use record, using an all-time high of 8 billion gallons.

How many of those gallons were injected into natural gas wells, I could not help but wonder?

No mention was made, in the article, about the drought, in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, regarding the fact that a new heavy user of water has moved into town in recent years. One would think mention of this would be made in an article about the local water woes.

Am I the only person curious as to what the water gallon total is in Fort Worth and Tarrant County that is being used by the Barnett Shale Natural Gas Drillers?

Meanwhile, news out of Arizona and the Phoenix zone this morning brought astonishing photos of a giant sandstorm that hit the Valley of the Sun on Tuesday.

I must remember to call my mom and dad and sister to see how they fared in this mess.

I will not be going swimming this morning. The pool got its weekly shock treatment late yesterday. The lack of going swimming should have me being grumpy in about 2 hours.

Don Young's Prairie Notes #55 With The Tandy Hills Roadrunner

Every month Fort Worth's Watchdog, Don Young, sends out his Prairie Notes.

Since this is July 1, Prairie Notes #55 has arrived.

I webpaged Don Young's Prairie Notes a couple times, due to me thinking the notes were too good not to share. Then it occurred me that I was sort of plagiarizing Don Young's good material without permission, so I stopped that bad boy behavior.

I did not realize til I right now, when I Googled "Don Young's Prairie Notes," that my webpaging of the notes Googles #1, along with a lot of blog posts where apparently I've mentioned Don Young's Prairie Notes, like this current blogging.

The coolest thing in Don Young's latest Prairie Notes is the picture he took of the Tandy Hills Roadrunner. The TH Roadrunner left the Tandy Hills Natural Area, crossed View Street, then ran onto Don Young's yard and hopped up on a birdbath to get a drink of water.

Currently, the Texas drought has rendered water very scarce on the Tandy Hills. Near as I can tell nothing remains of the two rains of June.

I'll carry an extra bottle of water with me on the Tandy Hills today in case I come across the Tandy Hills Roadrunner and it needs a drink.

The First Day Of July Dawns With A Texas Drought Disaster & Snow At Lake Tahoe

Looking out my primary viewing portal on the world on the first day of July it appears to be yet one more cloud free morning in Texas.

Currently chilled to a relatively pleasant 77 degrees. Heading to a scheduled high of 101 with the Heat Index making it feel like 106.

I did not realize til reading the news this morning that we are in a very very bad drought here in Texas. The worst in decades.

The Agriculture Department has designated 213 Texas counties as drought disaster areas. 32 counties in Louisiana, Arkansas and Oklahoma were also declared drought disaster areas.

It was a noticeably dry spring this year. And so far summer in Texas has also been dry, for the most part. And HOT.

Meanwhile out west, in locations like the mountains around Lake Tahoe, snow continues to fall, well past the time snow usually ceases. Up in my former zone in Washington, the Skagit Valley, perpetual dampness seems to be the ongoing theme, with 4th of July celebrants anticipating using umbrellas to watch the annual Sedro Woolley 4th of July Loggerodeo Parade.

June zipped by at an unseemly pace. I anticipate July to zip equally fast. With August quickly arriving.

Soon we will be at the cooler time of the year when going swimming is a bit of a chilly challenge, which will not be the case when I go swimming in just a few minutes.

Talk to you later.