Thank God for the rain

It has just started raining.

The editor here, The Ozarks Boy, says he is not going to complain that he just carried bucket after bucket this morning to water hiswife's flowers on the back deck. Nope, he is going to thank God for the rain.

We really need it. Missouri is in a drought, like a good part of the country, and it is affecting our farmers and ranchers. I was at a meeting in town where a young farming couple who had just bought an established real estate firm said the hay production on their farm has been significantly affected. They are getting less than a thrid of the number of bales per acre that they usually get. That means they'll have to buy some hay from someone else, paying a higher price, no doubt, in order to have hay to feed the herd this winter.

It has been awfully dang hot, as well as dry, this summer. The temperature was above 100 a couple of days this past week.(Go see our local paper's website, Phelps County Focus). Now temperatures in 90 and above 100 are not rare, not unheard of, here, but that doesn't mean we like it when it gets that hot.

The Ozarks Boy's brother-in-law works in the Texas oilfields, and a week or two ago, he sent a photo of a digital thermometer--it might have been from inside his air-conditioned pick-up truck--that showed it was 113 degrees that day. No one here at The Ozarks Almanac remembers any temperatures that high here.

Forecasts for the next few days--The Almanac staff checks several apps and websites frequently--indicate that it will continue to be hot, although not as hot as it was Thursday and Friday. There could be some more rain, off and on, even on the Fourth of July. That's good, for it's been so hot and dry that The Almanac staff has been fretting about the possibility of increased brush fires during the Fourth celebration. Maybe the rain will diminish that chance. Thank God.

Well, the rain has stopped, so a check of The Almanac's weather station shows a good rain and some moderation of the themperature. The rain gauge out on the deck railing shows we got a little over 1 inch of rain. The thermometer held by suction cups to the outside of the window next to The Almanac office shows the temperature is in the 70s, not the 90s. Yes, The Ozarks Almanac weather station is a bit primitive.

Well, the writing of this report was halted by about 30 minutes. There was a citywide power outage but it's fixed, the electricity is on. The air-conditioner is running, and this Almanac report will be posted shortly.

Persimmon seeds tell us what to expect this winter

Persimmons hold the winter weather forecast inside.

A couple of days ago, we predicted that this was going to be a cold, snowy winter, not a mild season.

Why are we so sure of this?

Why, persimmon seeds of course.

We Ozarkers love to talk about the weather, gripe about the weather, predict the weather ourselves and gripe about the weatherman when he is occasionally wrong. And we rely on our folklore to tell us what to expect.

One way to predict the weather is to cut open persimmon seeds. The Ozarks Boy has done that before here at The Ozarks Almanac. Now, the local newspaper has a columnist called The Insider who also took a turn at it.

The Insider’s conclusion is about the same as The Ozarks Boy’s, i.e., it is going to be a cold, wet winter. And when we say cold and wet, we mean snow and, unfortunately, ice. There were some cold wet days in November and December, but in this part of the country, the cold really hits us hard in January and, especially, February.

Now, for you city slickers and people from other states who don’t have our rich hillbilly folklore, it goes like this: You pick a bunch of persimmons, take the seeds out of the pulpy fruit, cut them open and see what you find. You’re going to find a little depiction of a knife, a fork or a spoon. Or, perhaps you’ll just find a blank.

A knife means biting, cutting cold. A fork means moderate weather is coming through. A spoon means snow.

The Ozarks Boy and The Insider have found that the seeds this year contained knives and spoons. Nope, there was nary a fork. So, it appears that we need to make ready for cold, wet (snowy, icy) winter here in south central Missouri. If you’re interested in what The Insider’s column had to say, here is the link to click on: Out and About With The Insider.

For those of you more interested in science and data, rather than folklore, from S.A. Fraley, the weather observer at the Rolla (Missouri S&T) NOAA Co-Op Weather Station, here is the local weather data for the 24-hour period ending at 7:30 a.m. this morning, Sunday, Jan. 3, 2021:

The seed halves in the middle appear to be spoons (snow)
while those on the right appear to be knives (bitter, cut-
ting cold. We don't know what the blank ones mean, and
we prefer not to think about the possibilities.

 Maximum temperature: 31 degrees F

Minimum temperature: 27 degrees F

Temperature at 7:30 a.m.: 29 degrees F

Precipitation: 0.05 inch

Precipitation for the month: 0.81 inch

Precipitation for the year: 0.81 inch

Snowfall/frozen precipitation: 0.5 inch

Snowfall/frozen precipitation for the month: 1.3 inch

Snowfall/Frozen precipitation for the year: 1.3 inch

Snowfall/frozen precipitation for the 2020-2021 season: 1.4 inch

Relative humidity: 99 percent. 

Snow and ice usher in the New Year

A little ice goes a long way. This
is pretty, but much more and limbs
break and power lines fall.

Here in Rolla, Missouri, we woke up today, the first day of the new year to ice on the trees and windshields, topped with a little frosting of snow that was still coming down—slightly—when The Ozarks Boy left for work at 5:30 a.m. Friday, January 1, 2021.

We expected to wake up to this, for it had started on New Year’s Eve.

Moreover, we expect to wake up to more snow on the ground and ice cracking on the moving tree limbs. We’re going to have to scrape the windshield many days, and we old-timers are going to have to drive even more slowly than we do during good weather. We'll tell you about that in the next day or two.

Bu right now, from S.A. Fraley, the weather observer at the Rolla (Missouri S&T) NOAA Co-Op Weather Station, here is the local weather data for the 24-hour period ending at 7:30
a.m. this morning, Friday, January 1, 2021:

Maximum temperature: 32 degrees F

Minimum temperature: 22 degrees F

The Ozarks Boy lets the motor and
defroster run to clear the wind=
shield. No scraping for him.

Temperature at 7:30 a.m.: 21 degrees F

Precipitation: 0.68 inch

Precipitation for the month: 0.68 inch

Precipitation for the year: 0.68 inch

Snowfall/frozen precipitation: 0.2 inch

Snowfall/frozen precipitation for the month: 0.2 inch

Snowfall/Frozen precipitation for the year: 0.2 inch

Snowfall/frozen precipitation for the 2020-2021 season: 0.3 inch

Relative humidity: 99 percent.

Happy New Year to all of you who read The Ozarks Almanac, wherever in the world you are.

Are the persimmon seeds telling the truth?

I have put off reporting on my persimmon seed-reading, because I didn't believe it.
Take a look at the photo at right. The seeds you can actually see to read all are spoons and knives.

I don't trust the seeds any more.

They lied to me for the last couple of years. They were like this year's reading, but the last two winters here were mild. Especially last winter. It was so mild that the municipal utility company's kilowatt-hour sales were down.

Nobody says it is going to be a cold, snowy winter this year, except for my seeds. And everyone else's. Plus the few people I've talked to who have seen woolyworms, or woolybears, say the caterpillars are solid black, no banding, so around here, we read that as a rough winter ahead.

But The Old Farmer's Almanac says it will be a mild winter.

"Winter will be milder than normal, with above-normal precipitation and snowfall. The coldest periods will be from late November into early December, from late December into early January, and in early February. The snowiest periods will be in mid-November, early to mid- and late December, and early February," is what The Old Farmer's Almanac says on Page 229 of the 2018 edition, which I bought last month. I buy it every year, and have for as long as I remember, because that is the almanac Grandpa always bought.

Well, The Old Farmer's Almanac was off this year, for sure. It has been even milder than they predicted, Late November into early December was moderate or warm. Some days I didn't wear a coat or sweater to work, and I get up and arrive before dawn. We got no snow in mid-November, and none in early or mid-December. Here it is in late December, and we finally got the first one of the season.

That is why I opened the seeds, took their picture and then laid them aside. I didn't trust them enough to share them with you, my readers throughout the Heartland and across this great nation.

But now, given recent events, I'm a little concerned. If The Old Farmer's Almanac is this far askew this year, maybe we'll have one of those old-time winters that hit hard on Jan. 1 and blast us all the way through St. Pat's. I remember one of the heaviest snows of my life was on the Ides of March back before I graduated from high school. That was old-timey; maybe we're going to revert to that.  Lord, I hope not.

We got a little bit of snow this past weekend, and it was still cold yesterday, Christmas Day. The National Weather Service says it is going to be below freezing the rest of this week. Maybe on Jan.1, the seeds' prediction will start in. Again, Lord, I hope not.

Well, hunker down and stay warm, folks. Throw another log on the fire.

Merry Cold Christmas

Last night, my wife said, “Is this going to qualify as a White Christmas?”

“Well,” I said, thinking about it. “We didn’t get much snow, so it is not a pretty blanket of snow. With the sky overcast, it looks pretty desolate. Still, though, I guess it would indeed qualify as a White Christmas. It will be your first one.”

She is a Texan and she doesn’t mince words.

“Sure not what it’s cracked up to be,” she said.

She had never had snow on Christmas. In fact, growing up in Houston, she rarely saw snow at all.

I asked her, “Do the radio stations play songs like ‘Jingle Bells’ and ‘Walking in a Winter Wonderland’ down there? Does Bing sing ‘I’m dreaming of a White Christmas” on Houston radio?

“Well, of course,” she said. “It snows in some places in Texas.”

She told me how when she was a kid, her mom and dad would pack the family up and drive north of Houston some 50 miles to Cut and Shoot whenever there was a little bit of snow at Uncle Bubba’s and Aunt Sissy’s place.

“It’s a little farther north, so they would get snow, a little, when we didn’t,” she said.

I remember a few years ago when her niece emailed some pictures of her kids’ snowman in Austin. A closer look at the snowman showed that it was next to a child’s sand bucket. It was a cute little miniature snowman made from snow that the kids had scraped off cars and scooped off the ground with the bucket. They had managed to get enough snow to make a little snow feller, though.

My wife wants to move back down to that warm place.

I don’t blame her.

God bless America, God bless Dixie and Merry Christmas to all our readers here in the Heartland and across this great nation.

Weather data

Here is the Rolla weather data for the 24-hour period ending at 7:30 a.m. today, Dec. 25, 2017, Christmas Day:

High temperature: 28 degrees F.

Low temperature: 17 degrees F.

Current temperature: 19 degrees F.

Precipitation: 0.01 inch.

Precipitation for the year: 42.87 inches

Precipitation for the month: 1.01 inch

Snowfall/frozen precipitation: 0.2 inch.

Snowfall/frozen precipitation for the 2017-2018 season: 1.9 inches

Snowfall/frozen precipitation for the year: 4.5 inches.

Snowfall/frozen precipitation for the month: 1.9 inches.

Relative humidity: 86 percent.

These figures are courtesy of S.R. Fraley, National Weather Service cooperative observer up on the campus of the Missouri University of Science & Technology.

Time to see what the persimmons predict for winter

It has been a tradition for me for several years to open up some seeds from the persimmon tree in our yard to find out what they predict the winter weather will be.
Then, I often write a column about the findings. If you root around in here, you might find some of those previous winters' prognostications.
Maybe you will find last year's that predicted a harsh, wet winter. It turned out to be quite mild. No snow accumulation worth mentioning.
As you can see from the picture, I have gathered some fruit, seven of them.
I chose seven because that is the number of days it took Our Almighty Father God to make the universe, and rest up from the effort.
I try to keep my persimmon work biblically based, because s fellow employee at the newspaper where I once worked asked, "Is this witchcraft?" I told her, "No, it is Ozarks folklore." So, to make sure it is not witchcraft, I keep it biblically based.
The seeds have been removed and are in a plastic sandwich bag on the kitchen counter.
I will get around to opening the seeds and reading them this weekend, so check back. And tell your friends.

Wildlife adapts to extreme weather, so don't worry about the animals

We have really been having some weather in our part of the state this week.I missed a day of work at my day job Monday, because I couldn't get to it. The Gasconade River and the Little Piney Creek had covered the interstate over at Jerome and Arlington, so I couldn't get to my job in Pulaski County.

I work at a big-box home improvement store as a manual laborer, so I worked at the sister store in Rolla, closer to my place, on Tuesday and Wednesday, returning to the St. Robert store today.

One of the cats that hang around here  broke the rain gauge before the big storm started, so I don't know how much rain we got here at our place total. I finally had a chance to put a new gauge up yesterday, and I know that that from 6:30 p.m. Wednesday until it quit raining today, we received 1 5/8 inches. All this water causes problems for humans, but it also can hinder wildlife. Don't worry too much about the animals, though. According to the Missouri Department of Conservation, wildlife is well adapted to the weather, no matter how extreme. Here's some more from MDC:

Regarding wildlife and flooding, MDC Furbearer Biologist Laura Conlee explained most wild animals move to higher ground when areas begin to flood.

“Many species have the ability to move to higher ground and can avoid flooding and high waters,” she said. “Although there are likely to be localized negative impacts, wildlife populations generally recover over time from these types of extreme natural events.”

MDC Deer Biologist Barb Keller echoed the same message.

“Deer and elk are pretty resilient to these types of events because they’re mobile, and in most cases, move to high ground as flood waters rise,” Keller explained. “Deer and elk are also strong swimmers and are occasionally sighted swimming across rivers as large as the Mississippi and Missouri.”

Keller added that deer fawns and elk calves would certainly be more vulnerable to extreme weather events such as flooding, but the peak timing for elk calving and deer fawning is still a few weeks away.

"Anytime we have a big rainfall event during spring, it’s never a good thing for turkey nesting success," said MDC Turkey Biologist Jason Isabelle.

“That being said, this spring’s flooding does not necessarily mean that we’re in for a poor hatch this year,” Isabelle said. “Weather over the next 4-6 weeks will still have a big influence on the success of this year’s hatch.”

Missouri fish are well adapted to flooding and MDC Fisheries Division Chief Brian Canaday noted the state’s fish populations are resilient.

“During floods, some fish move long distances, while others find refuge in local habitat such as root wads, logs, boulders, and flooded back waters,” he said.

Canaday added that fishing in Missouri will continue to be good.

“Your favorite fishing spot may look different after the flood, but the fish are still there and fishing will still be good in Missouri’s lakes, rivers, and streams,” he said.

As waters recede over the next few days, MDC staff will continue to assess impacts of flooding at MDC facilities, conservation areas, hatcheries, and accesses.

Before visiting conservation areas around state, check the MDC website for area closures due to flooding under CHECK FOR CLOSINGS at mdc.mo.gov.
 

"Icemageddon" hits the Ozarks again

This ice-covered feeder was almost empty before I refilled it.

Man, oh man, I hope this ice storm doesn't knock the power out. I've heard it called "Icemageddon," and I'm sure hoping that it doesn't turn out to be as bad as that sounds.

Now, you can read all about the ice storm the National Weather Service has named Jupiter on the internet or in your newspaper. Or you can turn on The Weather Channel or your local TV station. Those sources will tell you a lot more and show you dramatic pictures. I can't add much to that, so I'll just tell you about my day spent watching the ice build up. If you aren't interested, I don't blame you.

My supervisor at my day job called me a little before 6 and told me not to come in because freezing rain was falling, and she worried I might get stranded there in the afternoon. It's 30 miles away in the next county.

Normally, I would have been at work by 6 a.m., but I decided today to wait and go in late after I determined the chances of being stranded. The boss determined that for me.

I've had a full day of doing some of my favorite things: reading, writing, listening to the radio, drinking coffee, talking to my wife, playing with our standard poodles. When you grow up in the hardscrabble Ozarks, it doesn't take much to make you happy.

All morning I would step outside from time to time to check the weather. The rain that started here before 6 a.m. is still falling slowly at 2 p.m., so there is a layer of ice. I went out and replenished the bird feeders, for the birds have been on them all morning. I knocked the ice off the top of one so I could move the latches on the lid.

I measured the thickness of the ice at about 3/8 of an inch. I don't know if that is correct, but it is what I got. Don't consider it official.

I walked around the yard looking at various trees and shurbs. They're all frozen, of course.

I'm just hoping that the ice doesn't do what it did back in January 2007. That knocked our power out here for three nights. Fortunately, we had an office for the magazine we were publishing at that time, so we took an air mattress and spent the nights there, because that building was not affected by the power outage.

After my time outside, my wife and I ate a hot lunch, leftovers from yesterday, a dish of chicken, rice, mushroom soup, peppers, garlic and other tasty vegetables and spices. I added a large side dish of greens seasoned with bacon and a big slap of buttered cornbread. All washed down with strong, hot coffee. Fine, mighty fine.

Not a bad day, and It won't be a bad weekend either, as long as the power doesn't go off.

Look at the ice buildup on our red buckeye bush in the front yard.