Re: >^..^< The cats on 16 August 2009

In article
<24effdb2-f199-41fc-910e-33b398378774@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Harry Mary Andruschak <adoptsoldcats@xxxxxxx> wrote:
Both Ana and Claudette are dumping huge amounts of rain on land,

http://www.wunderground.com/history/airport/KAAF/2009/8/16/DailyHistory.html
says that Apalachicola, near Ground Zero for Claudette, got 3.5 inches
of rain yesterday and 0.6 inches today. Panama City: 0.5" today, 1.7"
yesterday.

http://www.wunderground.com/blog/JeffMasters/comment.html?entrynum=1283
says "None of the computer models foresee that Ana will survive
passage over Hispaniola. The Dominican Republic can expect 3 - 6
inches of rain from Ana, and Haiti can expect 1 - 3 inches."

and I am sure that Florida farmers are not happy about it.

The monthly summary says that Apalachicola averages about 0.25" per
day thru August. So they only got a little over 2 weeks of normal
rain in 2 days.

http://www.ndmc.unl.edu/DM/MONITOR.HTML shows Abnormally Dry or
Drought - Moderate centered on the Mississippi - Louisiana border.
Alas, the west side of Claudette was pretty much non-existant.

http://www.cpc.ncep.noaa.gov/products/analysis_monitoring/regional_monitoring/cmi.gif
shows that, as of 15 August 2009, Florida was all Slightly Dry /
Favorably Moist in Short Term Need vs. Available Water.

However,
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/southflorida/sfl-flpwater0109pnjan09,0,3641639.story
says "January 9, 2008 -- South Florida suffered the driest
back-to-back years on record ... The lack of rainfall helped push Lake
Okeechobee to an all-time low ..."

http://www.sfwmd.gov/watershortage/ says that, as of June 2009, there
were watering restrictions in most of South Florida. But it notes
that that's the start of the rainy season.

But http://www.floridafarmbureau.org/wmd/2009_0715 says that "The
month of June provided very abundant rainfall and was in fact one of
the wettest on record ... During the July governing board meeting, the
South Florida Water Management District officially ended the water
shortage by rescinding the order that placed restrictions on
agricultural irrigation. This comes at the end of the winter/spring
growing season which is critical to the success of many farmers."

Looks to me like maybe too much, too late.

And the same source expresses concern that the Army Corps of Engineers
has scheduled Lake Okeechobee to be two feet lower than in previous
years, "when concerns arose regarding the integrity of the Herbert
Hoover Dike which surrounds Lake Okeechobee. These long term concerns
will only be resolved with dike rehabilitation which is expected to
take up to 20 years to complete." With "The most intensive growth
period for agricultural crops in south Florida is during the winter
and spring months. This is also when the region has the least amount
of rainfall.", it looks like they really need consistent and even
unseasonable rain or they're up against it for the next generation.

--
Tim McDaniel, tmcd@xxxxxxxxx
.

Loading