Drought Watch

[Stabilo19]

Purely from a gardener's perspective, the ground is becoming very dry and hard/cracked in places and it's requiring daily soakings. A bizarre turn of events after all that rain we had..

Edited June 2, 2023 by Stabilo19

[kold weather]

19 minutes ago, Stabilo19 said:

Purely from a gardener's perspective, the ground is becoming very dry and hard/cracked in places and it's requiring daily soakings. A bizarre turn of events after all that rain we had..

Yeah the top layer certainly has dried out pretty quickly, I suppose we are near peak sunshine length now and whilst not always that warm, it has been more or less dry for the last 15-20 days now so things will dry out pretty readily at the surface. 

We really do seem to be stuck in an all or nothing type pattern in the last 18 months or so, with long periods of very wet weather, followed by 30-50 day bursts of basically nothing at all on the rain front. Starting to look like this will be another such lengthy dry period.

 

[Weather26]

And just when the rivers had refilled when we had the wet spell from  March to Coronation Day, we're now back to square one and possibly back on drought watch-let's just hope things don't get as bad as they did last year.

[damianslaw]

9 hours ago, Weather26 said:

And just when the rivers had refilled when we had the wet spell from  March to Coronation Day, we're now back to square one and possibly back on drought watch-let's just hope things don't get as bad as they did last year.

Its surprising how quick river levels drop.. doesn't seem to take much, more important are groundwater levels, its early season still but evaporation is increasing due to the strong plant and vegetation growth. So far we've had little heat, its heat and dry which is the killer... if we start to grow very warm air, it will take more than a few thundery showers to ease things.. sustained frontal attacks are needed in high summer.. the outlook suggests minimal frontal rain, so we could be entering high summer in quite a poor state. Mind we've seen numerous times very dry followed by very wet..

[alexisj9]

17 minutes ago, damianslaw said:

Its surprising how quick river levels drop.. doesn't seem to take much, more important are groundwater levels, its early season still but evaporation is increasing due to the strong plant and vegetation growth. So far we've had little heat, its heat and dry which is the killer... if we start to grow very warm air, it will take more than a few thundery showers to ease things.. sustained frontal attacks are needed in high summer.. the outlook suggests minimal frontal rain, so we could be entering high summer in quite a poor state. Mind we've seen numerous times very dry followed by very wet..

I don't think people realised how low the water table still us nationally from last year. Yes of course while it was raining the rivers were full, and things looked ok, but you can see now, it's not really been drought type weather although it was dry, it hasn't been overly warm. But already river sources are showing some hardship.

[Cheshire Freeze]

On 02/06/2023 at 11:51, Stabilo19 said:

Purely from a gardener's perspective, the ground is becoming very dry and hard/cracked in places and it's requiring daily soakings. A bizarre turn of events after all that rain we had..

Not really. It happens almost every summer now.

That’s what I pointed out in the spring thread when everyone was moaning about how bad March and April were. Could you imagine if the wet March didn’t happen? We’d be in for the potential of serious drought issues.

12 minutes ago, alexisj9 said:

I don't think people realised how low the water table still us nationally from last year. Yes of course while it was raining the rivers were full, and things looked ok, but you can see now, it's not really been drought type weather although it was dry, it hasn't been overly warm. But already river sources are showing some hardship.

There’s no getting through to some people though, they think it’s normal to be over 20c in March and have HP sat consistently around the UK.

[damianslaw]

Just reading the official government report on water level situation issued 10 May, just before the dry spell set in. It says levels are normal or above in nearly all regions all sources, and expected to remain the case through rest of 2023. Though interesting Hawswater and Thirlmere were 8% lower than normal indicative of the drier conditions here.

I think many forecasting companies perhaps been caught out by this spell.. or it may just be a longer blip than anticipated and a return to average/ wetter than average will take hold.. but possibly later than expected. 

Given the government see information we don't you would expect if the current dry spell was foreseen this would be reflected in the forecast.

The June update will make an interesting read, perhaps it may allude to not foreseeing the dry spell.

Edited June 3, 2023 by damianslaw

[Snowy L]

The retrogression has collapsed and the high will move East soon enough. Warmer but surely wetter in time too. Crazy overreaction to a 1 month dry spell given what the rest of Spring and Autumn were like. The Mediterraneans must be laughing at us. Grass should be yellow in a good summer.

Edited June 3, 2023 by Snowy L

[Cheshire Freeze]

Just now, Snowy L said:

The retrogression has collapsed and the high will move East soon enough. Warmer but surely wetter in time too. Crazy overreaction to a 1 month dry spell given what the rest of Spring anf Autumn were like. The Mediterraneans must be laughing at us.

The Mediterraneans don’t rely on antiquated reservoirs for their water though do they, nor have the population density that we have. Things can escalate quickly here when it doesn’t rain for a length of time.

[Dark Horse]

4 minutes ago, CreweCold said:

The Mediterraneans don’t rely on antiquated reservoirs for their water though do they, nor have the population density that we have. Things can escalate quickly here when it doesn’t rain for a length of time.

Yes true, things could turn unsettled at some point this summer but even then it usually just evaporates on the ground surface at this time of year rather than run into the reservoirs. 

Grass is going yellow here now on south facing areas and giving off dust as I walked across it like an arid area. I was tempted to give it a proper watering but that's only going to reduce the water supply. Good thing is I don't need to cut it anywhere near as often.

[TwisterGirl81]

We’ve not had rain here in Exeter for a month by the start of next week, I’m hoping for a few thunderstorms with torrential rain by the end of next week but must say I am loving this beautiful weather, may it continue throughout summer with thunderstorms mixed in 

Edited June 3, 2023 by TwisterGirl81

[alexisj9]

1 hour ago, damianslaw said:

Just reading the official government report on water level situation issued 10 May, just before the dry spell set in. It says levels are normal or above in nearly all regions all sources, and expected to remain the case through rest of 2023. Though interesting Hawswater and Thirlmere were 8% lower than normal indicative of the drier conditions here.

I think many forecasting companies perhaps been caught out by this spell.. or it may just be a longer blip than anticipated and a return to average/ wetter than average will take hold.. but possibly later than expected. 

Given the government see information we don't you would expect if the current dry spell was foreseen this would be reflected in the forecast.

The June update will make an interesting read, perhaps it may allude to not foreseeing the dry spell.

I think they only take into account water levels of water we use, not the water table in general. You can tell from how quick the ground has dried up, that water table is still low.

[Bristawl Si]

1 hour ago, CreweCold said:

The Mediterraneans don’t rely on antiquated reservoirs for their water though do they, nor have the population density that we have. Things can escalate quickly here when it doesn’t rain for a length of time.

Spain is in severe drought, with restrictions on many normal uses of water. Low river and reservoir levels are causing serious problems. I think much of Portugal is in much the same situ.

Reservoirs in Spain are at an average of 50% capacity.

Crop production has water restrictions applied, so produce will be prioritised for its home market. Expect our supplies from Iberia to be affected, at times, over the coming months and years.

[Bristawl Si]

9 minutes ago, alexisj9 said:

I think they only take into account water levels of water we use, not the water table in general. You can tell from how quick the ground has dried up, that water table is still low.

Yep. Our ground is  already severely cracked in the garden, just like it was end July/early August last year ('22).

I dont worry about the grass for water, it is extremely adaptable and recovers, even after weeks or months of dry conditions. But i water the plants though. The grass can go brown or yellow, but flowers and plants i like to water.

Edited June 3, 2023 by Bristle Si

[*Stormforce~beka*]

1 hour ago, Dark Horse said:

Yes true, things could turn unsettled at some point this summer but even then it usually just evaporates on the ground surface at this time of year rather than run into the reservoirs. 

Grass is going yellow here now on south facing areas and giving off dust as I walked across it like an arid area. I was tempted to give it a proper watering but that's only going to reduce the water supply. Good thing is I don't need to cut it anywhere near as often.

Funny you say that I had exactly the same thought today! I was going to water ours then thought it's so cracked that it's just not going to cut it and it would just be a massive waste of water. So I didn't bother!

[richie3846]

1 hour ago, alexisj9 said:

I think they only take into account water levels of water we use, not the water table in general. You can tell from how quick the ground has dried up, that water table is still low.

The speed the ground dries up on the surface has nothing to do with the water table and everything to do with the 4mm of rainfall lost each day, due to the time of year and clear skies. Soil dries out from the top down, so a couple of dry and sunny weeks can strip out 50mm of moisture out of the ground no problem, leaving the ground baked hard, but not necessarily indicating a serious problem in itself. I'm not sure if Scottish and Welsh reports are available, but in England at the end of April, groundwater was generally healthy. Groundwater generally recharges over the broader winter period, and dry spells in the summer make little difference to the groundwater/water table because there is no recharge anyway.

Generally speaking, groundwater helps rivers retain a baseflow when it's not raining, some rivers more than others. This baseflow helps the water companies continue abstraction when it's not raining. 

Normal groundwater levels at the end of April, tend to perpetuate through the summer, again, because there is no recharge, so this report indicates very healthy groundwater levels for most areas. 

[Ravendane]

Last year's drought in the South East was a nightmare for people with grazing animals. We rely on them having plenty of grass for them to eat, it also eases the financial burden of feeding them. We had to use all our bought in stock of  expensive winter hay because there was no grass left  just baked and cracked earth. The lack of rain isn't just an inconveniance for domestic gardeners  and an enjoyable time of fine weather. It is a crisis

[matt111]

The grass is really starting to turn yellow already here too, it's surprised me how quickly it's started doing it.

[damianslaw]

49 minutes ago, *Stormforce~beka* said:

Funny you say that I had exactly the same thought today! I was going to water ours then thought it's so cracked that it's just not going to cut it and it would just be a massive waste of water. So I didn't bother!

Grass is best left alone, it recovers rapidly.

[richie3846]

8 hours ago, Ravendane said:

Last year's drought in the South East was a nightmare for people with grazing animals. We rely on them having plenty of grass for them to eat, it also eases the financial burden of feeding them. We had to use all our bought in stock of  expensive winter hay because there was no grass left  just baked and cracked earth. The lack of rain isn't just an inconveniance for domestic gardeners  and an enjoyable time of fine weather. It is a crisis

I suspect this will just be the norm most years going forward. It's difficult to call it a crisis when it happened in 2018 and again last year, and regionally some areas were affected in other recent years also. We have to adapt to survive. 

8 hours ago, matt111 said:

The grass is really starting to turn yellow already here too, it's surprised me how quickly it's started doing it.

4mm a day (at least) loss of moisture in these conditions, multiply that by a few weeks, and it's no wonder this happens so quickly. Grass browns off at approximate moisture deficits of 75mm, which means in most summers we can expect this to happen at some point. 

[Ravendane]

2 hours ago, richie3846 said:

I suspect this will just be the norm most years going forward. It's difficult to call it a crisis when it happened in 2018 and again last year, and regionally some areas were affected in other recent years also. We have to adapt to survive. 

4mm a day (at least) loss of moisture in these conditions, multiply that by a few weeks, and it's no wonder this happens so quickly. Grass browns off at approximate moisture deficits of 75mm, which means in most summers we can expect this to happen at some point. 

It will be a crisis if there isn't enough grass high enough to cut as hay and silage for winter fodder for farm animals and horses. May and June are the growing times and it isn't growing enough in an early drought.

[ANYWEATHER]

With all the rain what has fallen over Spring, I cant believe people are talking about drought......!

[MattStoke]

1 minute ago, ANYWEATHER said:

With all the rain what has fallen over Spring, I cant believe people are talking about drought......!

Same every time we finally get a dry spell. People talk as if we’ve suddenly turned into an arid wasteland because we’re not all being soaked constantly for a change.

[cheese]

4 minutes ago, ANYWEATHER said:

With all the rain what has fallen over Spring, I cant believe people are talking about drought......!

We have the infrastructure of a third world country. If it hasn’t rained for a while, our leaky reservoirs become empty overnight. 

[ANYWEATHER]

3 minutes ago, cheese said:

We have the infrastructure of a third world country. If it hasn’t rained for a while, our leaky reservoirs become empty overnight. 

Totally agree. Infrastructure.....!!!

9 minutes ago, MattStoke said:

Same every time we finally get a dry spell. People talk as if we’ve suddenly turned into an arid wasteland because we’re not all being soaked constantly for a change.

I expect it wont belong before there talking too much rain.....!!!