I don’t have to say it. We’re all aware of it. This has a wet May for the record books. Texas went from being in a years upon years drought to being out of it in a matter of weeks. That’s Texas for you. One extreme to the other. Since May first we have seen thunderstorms, hail, straight line winds, tornadoes and flooding rain. About the only kind of precipitation we haven’t seen this month is ice or snow.
Flooding has claimed lives and destroyed homes and belongings. Lives have been forever changed in this rare seemingly constant deluge.
It will only be a few weeks and soon we’ll all be griping about the heat. Oh it’s coming. It always does. It almost seems wrong to complain about not having any hot weather to speak of so far this year. Yet, we humans are complainers, aren’t we. My dad used to say that I would complain if I was hung with a new rope. Or maybe it was my mom who said that. Either way, it really never quite made any sense. I’d argue that I’d want an old rope because it might break. I digress.
Did you ever wonder what it’s like to live in Seattle or London or any other location where the overriding weather conditions are cloudy and rainy almost every day? I have and now that I have experienced it, I know I could not live there. I’ve found myself on edge. I’ve been more grumpy than usual. And I think it has a lot to do with the nearly daily rain. And the fact that there are no gentle showers. It has to be a storm. Storm after storm after storm every day and every night.
The National Weather Service reported that through the first 28 days of May, the Dallas/Fort Worth region had issued 96 Flash Flood Warnings. Forecasters sent out 209 Severe Thunderstorm Warnings and 87 Tornado Warnings. That qualifies as an overactive storm season. I fear that we might have to put Chief Meteorologist Brad Barton out to pasture soon, having worked him too hard. The guy has worked morning, noon and night and weekends and holidays to keep listeners informed about the latest round of storms.
I got this stat from the National Weather Service: There has been enough rain across during May to cover the entire state nearly 8 inches deep. That’s over 35 trillion gallons! We have had over 16″ of rainfall in May officially!
The weather prognosticators say this is going to be a sunny week. I hope they’re right. Given how things have gone lately, I’ll believe it when I see it.
That’s what I’m thinking.
Rick Hadley
24/7 News
