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2022 Rain Thread

South Austin

By South Austin
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phdhorn
phdhorn

Post-mortem: I hope people in ATX and immediate realize how freaking lucky we've been.  The severe prediction map was spot on!  The storms started blowing up just west of Austin, giving most of us

jimmyjazz
jimmyjazz

I'm struggling to reboot my meteorology expertise after 5 years of focusing on election law, virology, economics, international relations and military tactics.

Grade of D as in David
Grade of D as in David

Hey mother fucker I wish every year was 2005.  

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Damor

Damor 1232

Posted
Posted
5 hours ago, BrickTop said:

They ended up grading that Bell County tornado as a high end F3 with 165 mph wind good thing it veered/died before hitting Salado


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If its radar trajectory had held true, IMO it would have carved a path through the center (and therefore most) of Salado.  Although not as powerful as the 1997 Jarrell tornado, I think the relatively greater population density of Salado would have resulted in significantly greater loss of life and property.  But that's a biased assessment because it would have included my ass.

So to summarize, if anyone's going to be at  Sounds over Salado at Barrow in a couple of weeks, let me know and I'll buy you a beer in gratitude for my continued existence.

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 104465

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A spring with no fucking rain is.....not great, Bob.

Seriously, just the issues with oak pollen alone having NOTHING to wash it away for weeks now is shitty.  And that's just a micro-effect.  Folks in the water business are starting to use the term "2011" in their conversations.

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Chet Steadman

Chet Steadman 940

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Brisketexan said:

A spring with no fucking rain is.....not great, Bob.

Seriously, just the issues with oak pollen alone having NOTHING to wash it away for weeks now is shitty.  And that's just a micro-effect.  Folks in the water business are starting to use the term "2011" in their conversations.

Yea, 2011 gets thrown around a lot on this thread (and its previous versions) but this is all starting to feel really familiar. 

Even down to the 7day forecast with 10%-20% daily chances which never seem to come to fruition.  

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 104465

Posted
Posted
1 minute ago, Chet Steadman said:

Yea, 2011 gets thrown around a lot on this thread (and its previous versions) but this is all starting to feel really familiar. 

Even down to the 7day forecast with 10%-20% daily chances which never seem to come to fruition.  

When the folks responsible for regional and statewide planning start talking 2011, instead of just internet nervous nancies, it's getting serious.  So, it's getting serious.

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Blotto

Blotto 23418

Posted
Posted
4 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

A spring with no fucking rain is.....not great, Bob.

Seriously, just the issues with oak pollen alone having NOTHING to wash it away for weeks now is shitty.  And that's just a micro-effect.  Folks in the water business are starting to use the term "2011" in their conversations.

I guess we're still releasing water to the rice Farmers along the gulf coast?  Explosive population growth in Central Texas combined with possibly a hotter/drier climate over time aint a good combination when we pass along a good amount of water from the highland likes to the rice farmers (with no restriction I seem to remember the rice crop uses 3X more water from the highland lakes than the city of Austin).

I understand the farmers have historical rights, but its not like the US/world needs the rice or its a strategic economic engine for the state. Buy those fuckers out and be done with it. I'd have to guess that the economic output of the communities that depend on the highland lakes is probably far greater now than the economic contribution of the rice crop here in Texas. We just came out of the last drought a few years ago, and we could be heading for another one. Doesn't seem sustainable. 

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Brisketexan

Brisketexan 104465

Posted
Posted
6 minutes ago, Blotto said:

I guess we're still releasing water to the rice Farmers along the gulf coast?  Explosive population growth in Central Texas combined with possibly a hotter/drier climate over time aint a good combination when we pass along a good amount of water from the highland likes to the rice farmers (with no restriction I seem to remember the rice crop uses 3X more water from the highland lakes than the city of Austin).

I understand the farmers have historical rights, but its not like the US/world needs the rice or its a strategic economic engine for the state. Buy those fuckers out and be done with it. I'd have to guess that the economic output of the communities that depend on the highland lakes is probably far greater now than the economic contribution of the rice crop here in Texas. We just came out of the last drought a few years ago, and we could be heading for another one. Doesn't seem sustainable. 

The Arbuckle Reservoir, an off-channel reservoir down by Wharton, is supposed to alleviate some of that pressure.  They started to fill it a couple of years ago, but found some issues and had to drain it and do some more work.  So, it's not available yet.  But when it is, it should provide a significant chunk of the water for the rice farms.

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Orange&White

Orange&White 5516

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, Blotto said:

I guess we're still releasing water to the rice Farmers along the gulf coast?  Explosive population growth in Central Texas combined with possibly a hotter/drier climate over time aint a good combination when we pass along a good amount of water from the highland likes to the rice farmers (with no restriction I seem to remember the rice crop uses 3X more water from the highland lakes than the city of Austin).

I understand the farmers have historical rights, but its not like the US/world needs the rice or its a strategic economic engine for the state. Buy those fuckers out and be done with it. I'd have to guess that the economic output of the communities that depend on the highland lakes is probably far greater now than the economic contribution of the rice crop here in Texas. We just came out of the last drought a few years ago, and we could be heading for another one. Doesn't seem sustainable. 

Water supply to rice farmers was revamped a few years ago. The amount of water they can receive is based on hard thresholds of available water in the highland lakes at various time marks.

For example: 

If the reservoirs are at 920k acre feet on March 1st, the farmers are entitled to 121k acre feet.

 

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Blotto

Blotto 23418

Posted
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15 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:

The Arbuckle Reservoir, an off-channel reservoir down by Wharton, is supposed to alleviate some of that pressure.  They started to fill it a couple of years ago, but found some issues and had to drain it and do some more work.  So, it's not available yet.  But when it is, it should provide a significant chunk of the water for the rice farms.

I vaguely remember that now you bring it up. Found the following https://www.lcra.org/news/update-on-the-arbuckle-reservoir/ 

Quote

The Arbuckle Reservoir represents a massive new infrastructure project for Texas. Having a 5 mile circumference, the reservoir is about 2 miles long and 1 mile wide. The reservoir will be capable of storing 40,000 acre-feet of water at a time. Because water in the reservoir can be used and the reservoir refilled multiple times per year, it will add up to about 90,000 acre-feet per year to the region’s water supply.

I dont know what the Rice farmers get these days, but in 2011 they received about 5X that amount out of the highland lakes. 

Quote

A new report from the Lower Colorado River Authority (LCRA), which manages water in the Highland Lakes for the city of Austin and farmers downstream, shows that rice farmers used 367,985 acre-feet of water from the lakes in 2011. (An acre-foot is a measurement of water, i.e., how much water it would take to cover one acre with one foot of water, which is roughly equivalent to 325,800 gallons.) Another 65,266 acre-feet of water was released from the lakes downstream but not used, due to evaporation, seepage, or “conditions changed that eliminated the need for the water,” according to the LCRA, bringing their total to 433,251 acre-feet used from the Highland Lakes.

Still seems like a waste to me, but stupid shit is kind of our specialty in this state. 

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Biff Tannen

Biff Tannen 45477

Posted
Posted
9 hours ago, Brisketexan said:

A spring with no fucking rain is.....not great, Bob.

Seriously, just the issues with oak pollen alone having NOTHING to wash it away for weeks now is shitty.  And that's just a micro-effect.  Folks in the water business are starting to use the term "2011" in their conversations.

damn-it-god-dammit.gif

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phdhorn

phdhorn 6224

Posted
Posted

For those into drought discussion (which I am, oh I guess a little bit, maybe), pretty good articles in lake Travis/Westlake Community Impact this week. I think well worth the read.

https://communityimpact.com/austin/lake-travis-westlake/environment/2022/04/14/climatologist-says-future-megadrought-could-harm-lake-travis-area/

I'd have a lot more to say on the upcoming summer but I'll skip it - for now.

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Bevo

Bevo 13493

Posted
Posted
21 minutes ago, ztejas said:

I felt a smattering of a drizzle not too long ago in Austin. Like a 70 year old alcoholic with a prostate the size of a grapefruit trying to piss.

That's probably what it was. Did you walk under any high-rises?

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