hows austin? still drier than hell? looking to move back next year...

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by tekka-maki

there are sequoias in austin?? shows how out of the loop i am! im in bay area now, where early and 2nd growths (more abundant) can be readily found, especially in the park systems. guess i wasnt looking enough in austin.

I think I meant cypress. . .sorry. In any case - they commonly lined streams and rivers around here. Most were cut down by early settlers. A few still exist not - huge and with a wonderful record of weather contained in their rings.

[CptnRn]

Originally Posted by Komeht

Studies come and go and change with the wind. Look at sequoia tree rings for best guide as to how climate fluctuates here over last several hundred years. Severe droughts on the order of a decade or more are typical or the area. We haven't had one in modern history, but it could happen at any time. Should be interesting to see how we cope when we tax our resources with something like this.

But in time, the pendulum will swing the other way and Austin will be wet again.

The worst long term drought in Texas history lasted seven years, back in the 1950's.

The time it never rained | Texas Water Resources Institute

The Time It Never Rained, a historical novel by Elmer Kelton, embodies Texas’ drought of record that lasted from 1950 to 1957. The book reflects many of the experiences Texans, especially rural Texans, had during the worst drought in recorded history.

Comal Springs stopped flowing out of the Edwards Aquifer for the first and only time in recorded history.

By the end of the drought, 244 of 254 counties in Texas were classified as disaster areas. The cost of the drought is estimated at about $3.5 billion (in 2008 dollars) for each year from 1950 to 1957.

[mickey65]

October is usually one of our wettest months of the year...and we've barely gotten anything this one.

[Trainwreck20]

But July/August/September were 90%, 63%, and 64% above normal, with more than 5 inches more rain in those three months than 'normal'. Looking at too small a scale doesn't really tell you a whole lot, imho. What is the standard deviation on those averages, anyway? It isn't like the rainfall is always 3.4" each year. The October average rainfall (on a 30-year rolling average) has been trending upward since the 1940s, from 2.77 inches up to the current 3.95 inches.

The lake level has remained steady due to the higher than normal precipitation at the end of the summer (as opposed to falling, which it typically does).

[Komeht]

Originally Posted by CptnRn

The worst long term drought in Texas history lasted seven years, back in the 1950's.

That's just recorded history. There was a decade long severe drought from 1716-1725 and a 20 year severe drought from Prior to it.

[tekka-maki]

thx for wealth of input