No kidding. I've been hoping (and praying) that this rain will be the big one: a good long thorough soaker.

It is like mid august around my house

I sure hope so! We just installed a few rain barrels, so I'm hoping to start filling them up before it really is summer and there's no more rain.

Cynthia

I'm feeling optimistic too, but have lived here long enough to know not to pin my hopes on any forecast because sometimes they just don't verify.

I do think the rain is going to happen. I just hope it falls everywhere and on everyone so that we all get some drought relief.

I wouldn't mind heavy flooding, but the models don't predict it.

Oldokie, It looks like mid-August here too, and in the worst possible way....our ground is dry and cracked and the cracks are wide enough and deep enough that snakes can hide in them. I'm really careful when I walk across a pasture because I don't want to step on a snake hiding in a crack in the ground. Been there, done that before, and it isn't fun.

We've had at least 5" of rain this year, so we have had good green-up but this week's heat wave has turned the green to brown pretty rapidly.

Cynthia, Let's think positive. It is going to rain this summer. It is going to rain this summer. It is going to rain this summer. Repeat that until you believe it, and maybe then it will come true.

I'll link the WPC's 7-day QPF. We seldom get exactly what the QPF forecasts, and sometimes we aren't even close, but it is nice to see the forecast is for significant rainfall.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful:

The e have had less than an inch of rain this year and it looks like we are going to be on the wrong side of the rain again.
I will keep hoping and plan for lots of selective watering all year.

Robert

Dawn, I check that graphic three times daily and have noticed the trend that the morning updates usually show less precipitation forecasted than the updates later in the day. We'll see what tomorrow says. It looks better now that any of the last few days.

Scott, I check it often, too, while longing for some real rainfall that will put some significant moisture back into the ground.

This morning, the QPF is looking better than ever.

I cannot get Tim to buy into the idea that we will get as much rain as the QPF shows. Too many times we have gotten our hopes up based on the QPF and then gotten little to no rain. It is disappointing when it predicts several inches and then all we get is a few hundredths of an inch.

I have a good feeling about the rainfall for the next 7 days. I really feel like the rain will fall heavily like they are saying it will. It must fall. We need it so desperately.

As much as we need rain, I would willingly go without rain the next 7 days if it would mean that the rain forecasted for our county would fall on Woodward and Logan counties and put a firm end to those wildfires.

There was an old saying where I grew up in Texas that said "It takes a flood to end a drought ". Well, in that sense , I am hoping for a flood. No one is likely to get enough rain from one rainy week to end the current drought (like Love County did on April 29, 2009), but that won't stop me from hoping and believing we just might get enough rain during the next week to at least keep the drought conditions from worsening.

I'm going to drag my rain boots out of the closet and put them by the back door just in case. I cannot even remember the last time I wore rain boots in the garden.

Dawn

I don't know that many of you are on FB, but Aaron Tuttle's feed runs through my news feed. (I don't want any commentary on him :) I am just hoping he is right!) He just posted this:

Here is the severe weather risk area for today and tonight. This includes the greater OKC area. I'll have a more detailed look a little later, but in the meantime just know that the latest model trend has been to bring in a solid line of storms from west to east this evening and stall it over C OK producing flash flooding with 2+" of rain in about a 3 hour period. I know that's hard to believe in a drought but something to keep in the back of your mind.

Thanks for posting that Lisa. I had no idea things might get a little severe. Mostly I've been grateful to notice each day that the high percentages of chance-of-rain have been holding. It's still about 80-90% where I live. So discouraging during the summer to see 30, or 40 or 50% chance appear and then watch it whittled down to nothing by the time the day actually arrives.

Lisa, I hope he is right too.

I think we get the prize for the first raindrops of the day here. They fell around 11 or 11:15 a.m. I'm not saying it was a lot of rain, and I don't think it was as far north as our Mesonet station, so nothing is measured, but I bet we got about a whole teaspoonful of rain in the 5 or 10 minutes the droplets fell. Keep in mind that a teaspoonful of rain divided over our entire place wouldn't be much rain per acre. I did have raindrops on my arms, my glasses and my garden trowel though. It is a start. I hear thunder now, so I came indoors to wait for the next little line of storms to roll by to our south.

The NWS-Norman website has graphics up regarding the storm's timing and hazards. There's some really ugly language used there, like hail to the size of golf balls and tennis balls. We don't need that.

Dawn

Here is a link that might be useful: NWS Norman Webpage

The rain has started but as I feared it is mainly to our east. I hope the rest of you get some good rain but no flooding.

Robert

I'm sorry you didn't get much, Robert. It's really really raining right now (Payne Co.) I don't know if it'll last long, but it's awesome to hear thunder and lightening and real rain fall outside. Almost foreign. Hope the wind and hail won't be a problem.

I guess I spoke too soon. A second line of storms moved over. We ended up with 0.8 inches.
We need a whole lot more. The ground, outside of the garden is damp but still hard. None of the ditches have water in them. It is so dry it just soaks in.

We got a half-inch at our house. It isn't nearly enough, but nowadays it seems like we never do get enough rain any more. I'm grateful for every drop that falls.

AT managed to call it again! After the first round of storms last night I kinda rolled my eyes. Sorry to hog all the rain in OKC, though!

Lisa

Well less than a tenth of an inch here in Cleveland county. We put in new gutters and drains last month, so I am certain we will never see rain again.