June can be a nasty month here in Colorado, and this year has been just that. Today is the 9th straight day that there have been severe thunderstorms with heavy rain, high winds, hail,etc. in many parts of the state - especially along the Front Range which runs parallel to the Rocky Mountains. Our mornings are great,but by 1-2 pm on, the weather turns from Dr. Jekyll to Mr. Hyde. Wednesday we had hail here at my place the size of dimes. Many places have experienced golf ball-size hail, which can be very destructive. Temperatures have been between 10-30 degrees below normal for this time of year and on a brighter side; our reservoirs are now filling due to the amount of rain we have had this month so far. Funnel clouds and tornado sightings have been prevalent in many parts of the state this month. Part of a shopping mall down near Denver was destroyed by a tornado last weekend. Hail has caused the most damage, however, as our farmers got the rain they needed, and then had their crops destroyed by the hail storms. A farmer over in the Greely area lost over 800 acres of cabbage, carrots, and beans...his entire livelihood for the coming year. He plans to replant some of the loss, but the fields are so wet right now, he doubts he can begin to recoup what he has lost. He is just one of many farmers in the same situation, as crops are at a tender stage in growing in June. Rob stained his deck last week, and an hour later we got a heavy thunderstorm and the rain.....well, you can guess. Rob is not a happy camper, as he lost all that time and expense and hasn't been able to restain the deck.
Next weekend is the first day of summer, and I'm ready. I'd rather have blizzards than tornados and severe thunderstorms anyday. I guess we get what we get....whether we like the weather or not. I'm sure soon we will be complaining it is too hot, so as a lady from my church said, "Enjoy this cool weather, as it will soon be hotter than where the sinners go after death!"
3 comments:
You'll be alright!
Hail can do damage, but it was a benefit to us about fifteen years ago when we had a bad hailstorm. The siding of our house was damaged by the hail to the extent that we were able to have our house completely re-sided and our homeowner's insurance covered the whole job. Farming is a very risky business, unfortunately, but farmers are well aware of the havoc that the weather can do to crops. That is the chance they take when they decide to go into farming. Reminds me of the "Little House on the Prairie" episode where Charles loses his entire crop after a bad hailstorm, and then has to walk 100 miles to find work, leaving his family on the prairie for months while he is away. At least times aren't quite that bad in this day and age.
Yeah - but someone has to grow the food we buy at the supermarket. Farmers loses mean higher prices for produce. It's a lose-lose situation all around when farmers have crop failure for any reason.
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