Relief
Yesterday evening, around 7:00 or so I noticed it was getting pretty cloudy. A quick step outside showed me a spattering of big raindrops -- nothing to get too excited about though, because that has happened quite a bit during this hot, dry spell. We'll get a small but intense thunderstorm pass nearby, so that we'll hear the thunder, see the lightning, feel a few stray drops, but get no useful precipitation.
With the cloud cover I decided to do a little repotting: dug and potted some volunteer Malabar spinach seedlings, repotted a few small plants. It was nice being able to do this in the "cooler" air, as the temperature had dropped into the low 90's. All the while thunder crashing all around, I just knew this storm wasn't going to miss us, and surely we'd get some rain.
***
We did! My makeshift rain gauge says we got about 0.75", but it seemed like more than that. It was a pretty good soaking, at least by recent standards.
It was certainly enough to make my morning walk around the garden moist, and I just had to photograph all of the wetness!
It was fantastic not having to water anything this morning! Although it will be hot today -- it's forecast to be 97ºF (36ºC) -- the next several days will only max out at 90ºF (32ºC), which sounds amazingly cool.
I'm thankful for the rain!
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I bet the sigh of relief from your garden was audible!
It was only 0.12 inches of rain here, but that's still better than the no rain we've had in the 3 weeks prior.
Seems like dry conditions are supposed to persist for another week, but I believe this might be a turning point in the drought we've had over most of the lower 48.
I can only imagine how wonderful that must have felt. We're pushing 100°F now and seeing your photos of rain drops was great.
Rain is always welcome in a thirsty garden. I like it because I don't have to spend so much time watering but worry about humidity when the rain is too much.
Still no relief here and nothing in the forecast for ten more days. It is cooler, so that's something! But still. Dry dry dry!
We got even more rain last night, and with high temps around 92ºF for the rest of the week, I think we're out of danger. Hoping you (Lisa and everybody else who's dry) get the rain next!
Gotta love Summer Rains - everything looks so beautiful afterwards, like your photographs.