COLUMN: Rain helps drought conditions

My granddad always said, “Never complain about rain! Even if it comes all at once!” That was the case this past weekend as Mother Nature supplied a month’s worth of rain in some areas in a couple of days.

Much appreciated precipitation will help bust some of the lingering drought conditions in Southwest Oklahoma. While not completely out of the woods just yet, not many will complain with the life-brimming rain.

With the average July precipitation totals sitting at about 2.6 inches, last week’s deluge has already pushed most Mesonet sites well past that average. The new drought monitor, which was released Thursday, showed flash drought return in Western Oklahoma.

Lake levels have yet to reflect recent rains and runoff, but those should continue to improve as well. River and creek levels that fill many of our lakes are above normal, and the shot of rain we had Monday morning, should have provided lots of runoff over soaked land.

This has been a hard summer to figure. A mix of hot and cooler temperatures and excessive storms with hail, wind and big rain has led to the a wet early spring sandwiched with drought like condition for the last month, then this. Even with that, it is hard to remember that is that just a year ago we went through the driest 30-day period in the last 100 years. Make your scratch your head.

Forecasters with the National Weather Service do list a marginal chance for storms this week, but the jet stream has finally moved to a more normal, northern position, so we should be heading for summer type weather – hot and dry.

So what does all this mean for outdoors folks?

Rising water is great for area lakes, we still have most of our lakes below normal conservation pool. So we need more runoff in most lakes. Altus-Lugert is nearly 15-feet below normal, but has come up a little this week.

Higher water gives fish places to spawn and baby fish places to hide, so that bodes well for next year’s recruitment class of fish. Run-off also brings in nutrients (sometimes too much) that let plankton bloom, the food source for many baby fish.

Rain also gives lots of growth to upland vegetation – weeds and grasses that is vital to ground nesting birds such as quail, and provides better food for insects, birds, mammals that had a tough time last year.

If you have been out, you probably notices an excess of crawling, hopping and flying insects. While those are nuisance species to us humans, they are a smorgasbord to small quail, turkey or other creatures looking for a crunchy meal.

We know this pattern won’t last, but for the meantime, enjoy the blessing that Mother Nature has provided, and remember — it all balances out in the end. Drought, flood, heat, cold — over a long period the highs and lows balance somewhere in the middle. You just have to wait long enough to see it happen.