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2023 Rain Thread


South Austin

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Hate---Glad to hear you've been medically cleared to get back on the bourbon train.

We had an eerily porland-esque consistent light rain from about 12-6pm today.  Added up to just under an inch, but was evenly spread.  Lawn's making a decent comebac, but there's some shit patches still.  I imagine dormancy is one or two more cold fronts away so every little bit is borderline critical at this point.  

Edited by YGIFS
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Rain started in earnest again here in near-south Austin.  Supposed to go until about 3am.  Between the midday/afternoon light rain and this heavier pour, we should easily clear one inch before sunrise, likely more.  Selfishly, would like a no-rain Saturday between Veteran's Day parade and Texas Book Festival but you just look over there at TCU and wonder how you can throw the ball in the Fort Worth Monsoon?

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15 minutes ago, royiv said:

What does that translate into for your rainwater collection system? How did it fare through the summer drought?

Added over 2000 gallons today so far.

We had to add water this summer. About $1800 worth that suuucked. That’s probably still less than a water bill for our water company for the year. We had to add it because we started way too low. January when we moved in, we had maybe 2000 gallons and the spring rains really missed us. A few close calls for 4+ inch events instead close to nothing. We ended up about 9000-10000 gallons going into the summer. Just not enough. But we’ve bounced back. We scraped back down in September to less than 2000 and now it’s pushing 10,000 tonight. Excluding irrigation and pool evaporation we use 3000-3500 per month. So we’ve added probably 15,000+ since the beginning of September.  If we can have some normalcy to the rain we should be able to go into the spring with 20,000+ gallons and then a surge in late April and May could add 10,000-15,000 alone. That would be more than enough to get us through.  Tank holds 55,000-60,000. 

Edited by troph
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3 hours ago, UT_OB1 said:

@troph - remind me - do you have uv or something like that for disenfecting it? Also do you pre-heat your hot water with a solar heat exchanger?  That’s so simple I’m tempted to try that, but not sure how the hoa would react

Pretty basic solid filter (not really needed as you’d maybe think just for silt mostly), then carbon filter, then UV. That’s the standard. It’s really simple.

here’s the set up:

 

IMG_3655.jpeg
 

top left is one of 3 rainwater first line filters for leaves and sticks. Clean out once a year. 
 

bottom left is our pressure tank and pump. 
 

middle canisters are from left to right two carbon filters the second one more fine and the right metal one is the UV filter. 
 

Tankless hot water top right with a circulator pump below that that is connected to our smart home system so when we want to use hot water we can turn it on. So it doesn’t run 24/7 wasting propane. 
 

far right pipe down comes back on the bottom of the pic to drop condensation from the heater back into the cistern. We have AC condensation lines back into it too.
 

excuse the wires and disorganization. Wife isn’t much on mechanical systems looking OCD pretty. 
 

the information screen is simple (home assistant) 

 

IMG_3656.jpeg

Edited by troph
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  • 3 weeks later...

Da fuh?  We went from 60% chance of moderate rain on Thursday to now Thunderstorm Warnings and a Tornado Watch?  Into December 1st?  What the fuck?  

I spread corn gluten meal to help with the weeds and dead spots from the draught.  Was gonna lightly mow and handpull weeds before seasonal dormancy between tomorrow and Sunday.  But apparently I'll be swept up in a fucking tornado instead.  This year has been an absolute hoot.

But yes, we could use some precip.  Was at my SiL's place right on the Trinity in Fort Worth for Thanksgiving.  Most miserable I've ever seen that River.  I let my oldest walk across it (albeit on medium-sized rocks) multiple times because even if she fell in, she'd be cold as hell for an hour, but no chance of getting swept away as it was basically stillwater and maybe 2' deep in some spots.  Depressing.  

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I know it can happen, it's just fucked up to think about.  I swear we're gonna go from another prolonged draught to  David Yeomans popping up on TV saying, "Welp, for the first time in 3 months...it's raining and Mount Bonnell has experienced a mudslide and fallen into Lake Austin.  Here's what that means for you tsunami victims at Hornsby's Bend.  Ice storm dissidents in Marble Falls can expect electricity to flow again next month.  Be sure to check for lower water crossings at the new 183/Mopac flyover.  A Mule Deer Tauntaun is your best sleeping option at the homeless encampments for those on St. Ed's hilltop dryland enclave.  120 degrees for a high tomorrow so watch out for brushfires in the deep end of Barton Springs.  Though those in the eastside lowlands are asked not to burn mesquite or oak for warmth as it only angers the typhoon gods.  Back to Mark with UT Sports..."  

Edited by YGIFS
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For SE Texas today:

Further south from the middle Texas Coast into Southeast Texas, the
environment will become favorable for supercells by around midday.
As surface dewpoints and low-level shear increase, Significant
Tornado Parameter is forecast to peak in the 4 to 5 range by early
to mid afternoon. RAP forecast soundings just west of Houston at 21Z
have 0-3 km storm-relative helicity reaching about 325 m2/s2. This
will likely support a tornado threat associated with supercells that
form and move into the Houston area this afternoon. A small cluster
of tornadoes is expected across southeast Texas. Although damaging
wind gusts will also be possible, this threat will be associated
with supercell downdrafts and should remain isolated. There could
also be a localized large hail threat with supercells. The potential
for severe storms could continue into the evening as a convective
cluster moves from southeast Texas into southwest Louisiana.

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17 hours ago, YGIFS said:

I know it can happen, it's just fucked up to think about.  I swear we're gonna go from another prolonged draught to  David Yeomans popping up on TV saying, "Welp, for the first time in 3 months...it's raining and Mount Bonnell has experienced a mudslide and fallen into Lake Austin.  Here's what that means for you tsunami victims at Hornsby's Bend.  Ice storm dissidents in Marble Falls can expect electricity to flow again next month.  Be sure to check for lower water crossings at the new 183/Mopac flyover.  A Mule Deer Tauntaun is your best sleeping option at the homeless encampments for those on St. Ed's hilltop dryland enclave.  120 degrees for a high tomorrow so watch out for brushfires in the deep end of Barton Springs.  Though those in the eastside lowlands are asked not to burn mesquite or oak for warmth as it only angers the typhoon gods.  Back to Mark with UT Sports..."  

the cherry on top -  it will be sean kelly.

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  • 2 weeks later...
1 hour ago, Biff Tannen said:

So we went from 90% rain all morning to fuck all in a matter of hours

I think it will still rain, but way less than what was predicted. 

Wunderground shows several days coming up:

image.thumb.png.9d6e43486e60c251dda3c1b407113090.png

 

El Nino has been a dud.

Edited by FirstTimeCaller
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On 12/15/2023 at 2:18 PM, texasdago said:

I thought I read that it was suddenly collapsing or something or other because the climate is all F'ed up

I read it was being predicted to be historically strong.

I used the trademarked phrase "Austin rain" for stuff like today.

It's raining, but it's such a fine light rain that it goes for 8 hours and we get 0.12"

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Looks like we'll end the year around 10 inches of rain below average, or about 70-75% of normal rainfall. That stretch in the summer with no rain was ridiculous, but the stretch for the past month has been brutal as well. 

image.png.614ad9e2b127b9e7de8cce1993bef1bb.png

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19 hours ago, cmontexas said:

Been raining like fuck in LA

 

14 hours ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

Looks like we'll end the year around 10 inches of rain below average, or about 70-75% of normal rainfall. That stretch in the summer with no rain was ridiculous, but the stretch for the past month has been brutal as well. 

image.png.614ad9e2b127b9e7de8cce1993bef1bb.png

As of today downtown LA has had more rain (28.13 inches) than Austin this year and will likely finish the year with a higher total. You really can’t say that very often.

image.thumb.jpeg.7d6909eb7ea8c369084229e535c13320.jpeg

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26 minutes ago, boknowstecmo said:

How often can you say that?

Average rainfall is about 15 inches.

Damn, I knew it was desert near there but didn't realize how dry it was usually. In my mind, it's dry but kinda lush (palm trees, etc.) That's millions of people living in a desert next to the ocean.

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2 minutes ago, FirstTimeCaller said:

Average rainfall is about 15 inches.

Damn, I knew it was desert near there but didn't realize how dry it was usually. In my mind, it's dry but kinda lush (palm trees, etc.) That's millions of people living in a desert next to the ocean.

There’s a huge pipeline that comes down from the Sierra that feeds LA their water. 

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But if you can't bring the water to L.A., Mr. Geddes.  You bring L.A. to the water.  You see?  

 

the water tables of New York City and Los Angeles are really incredible feats of geography, topography, freshwater supplies, engineering, and just plain good luck.  I kinda got hooked on the topic while living in Spain and listened to some lecture on the roman aqueducts in Segovia and other nearby cities.  Some class in geography I took in undergrad talked about the upstate water table in New York where it all starts and how it keeps the tri-state area down south flush with water.  And then this little, humble Lake Itasca---not even the size of one of our Highland Lakes on a good day---begins the Mississippi River down to the Delta all the way from upstate Minnesota.  Southern California has a similar story.  

Obviously human civilization tended to migrate and gather where there was viable freshwater.  But even in those areas, the substantial growth could never have been foreseen but for those other elements of engineering and good fortune.  The bad news for Central Texas is we don't have much else going for us.  The topography and undulation, the more frequent draughts, and the orientation of the aquifers.  We can engineer ourselves into a lot of amazing shit, but you can't engineer freshwater, especially when it's not falling out of the sky like it used to.  And other than every single political or real estate conference having a panel on "The Future of Water", nobody seems to have any idea how we're gonna pull this off.  

But hey, at least the Colorado River and Rio Grande are almost all dried up.  

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But if you can't bring the water to L.A., Mr. Geddes.  You bring L.A. to the water.  You see?  
 
the water tables of New York City and Los Angeles are really incredible feats of geography, topography, freshwater supplies, engineering, and just plain good luck.  I kinda got hooked on the topic while living in Spain and listened to some lecture on the roman aqueducts in Segovia and other nearby cities.  Some class in geography I took in undergrad talked about the upstate water table in New York where it all starts and how it keeps the tri-state area down south flush with water.  And then this little, humble Lake Itasca---not even the size of one of our Highland Lakes on a good day---begins the Mississippi River down to the Delta all the way from upstate Minnesota.  Southern California has a similar story.  
Obviously human civilization tended to migrate and gather where there was viable freshwater.  But even in those areas, the substantial growth could never have been foreseen but for those other elements of engineering and good fortune.  The bad news for Central Texas is we don't have much else going for us.  The topography and undulation, the more frequent draughts, and the orientation of the aquifers.  We can engineer ourselves into a lot of amazing shit, but you can't engineer freshwater, especially when it's not falling out of the sky like it used to.  And other than every single political or real estate conference having a panel on "The Future of Water", nobody seems to have any idea how we're gonna pull this off.  
But hey, at least the Colorado River and Rio Grande are almost all dried up.  

The story on the water systems in Spain is amazing, and ancient.
The oldest continuously operating court in the world? The Tribunal de les Aigües de València - the Water Tribunal of the plain of Valencia. It has convened weekly for the past 1,100 years, and adjudicates disputes about rights to the water distributed in local canals. Pretty cool.
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11 minutes ago, Brisketexan said:


The story on the water systems in Spain is amazing, and ancient.
The oldest continuously operating court in the world? The Tribunal de les Aigües de València - the Water Tribunal of the plain of Valencia. It has convened weekly for the past 1,100 years, and adjudicates disputes about rights to the water distributed in local canals. Pretty cool.

You probably know the water expert/author/frequent court witness in Texas, (PhD, Charles P.).  Goes to my wife's Catholic Church.  He was telling me about Valencia and how it still informs our water laws and development and all this other cool shit.  Fascinating guy.  The King of Spain on some visit to San Antonio years ago called him out to discuss his work, great stories.  Anyway, a lot of again is based on we flocked and settled where the water was.  But then we grew in massive size as a species and how we figured it out was nothing short of a miracle of engineering, law, conservation, and cooperation.  Bad news about that miracle though, its time may be running to an end.  We've been saying that for a hundred years, but this shit 'bout to get fucked.  

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5 hours ago, YGIFS said:

We can engineer ourselves into a lot of amazing shit, but you can't engineer freshwater, especially when it's not falling out of the sky like it used to.  And other than every single political or real estate conference having a panel on "The Future of Water", nobody seems to have any idea how we're gonna pull this off.  

But hey, at least the Colorado River and Rio Grande are almost all dried up.  

Drive out 620 today and the lake looks fucking awful. 

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5 hours ago, Brisketexan said:


The story on the water systems in Spain is amazing, and ancient.
The oldest continuously operating court in the world? The Tribunal de les Aigües de València - the Water Tribunal of the plain of Valencia. It has convened weekly for the past 1,100 years, and adjudicates disputes about rights to the water distributed in local canals. Pretty cool.

I visited where they meet a couple of months ago but it wasn’t on a Thursday. They usually don’t have any disputes and it’s mostly for tradition. However somebody had an actual issue a year or so ago. 

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