Friday morning’s showers didn’t do much to alleviate the drought conditions
It's going to take a lot more rain to make a dent.
Most areas received under a quarter of an inch of rain Friday morning. The south coast and islands got a bit more, but nothing extreme. Ironically, the areas with the greatest rainfall deficit received the least amount of rain yesterday, and the areas that need the least received the most.
Some areas are 12 inches below their average rainfall over the past year. That means we would need 50 to 100 times what many of you received Friday morning to make up the drought. Of course, we don’t want that all in one storm.
But the point is: While we did have some rain, we need a lot more.
Friday’s rainfall and how much rainfall we need to get us back to normal.
Did you know that an average oak tree transpires (basically, “tree sweats”) 40,000 gallons throughout the growing season? That’s about 200 gallons of water a day! With such a large water need, you can understand why a few showers aren’t going to make a dent in the drought.
Trees pull ground water into their leaves during the growing season.
The longer the lack of rain continues, the deeper trees will need to go to get water. Plants without deep roots, such as your lawn, will wilt, go dormant, or die.
There is a chance for a few showers during the second half of the weekend and again on Monday, but I don’t see anything widespread or drought-busting.
More heat is also likely on the way later next week, with at least a day or two in the 90s again. Water your plants early in the morning, and be sure to give them enough water to penetrate the soil several inches. I don’t see any break in the pattern in the long-range forecast, so the drought will likely remain as bad or get worse. At least the weather is nice for the beach.
Latest drought status.
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