saving water

On Friday the state announced that because of our worsening drought situation that no one was going to be able to water across the northern third of the state. That includes everyone in the metro area! The reasoning... the state wanted to nip thing in the bud before things get any worse. You can read the story here on CBS46.com.

I moved to Georgia back in 1986 and I can tell you that this is as bad as it has been since then. Whenever we have been in a drought in Georgia I have always said that it could have been worse because nothing was as bad as it was in 1986. Well, 2007 might be just as bad as it was then plus throw in the fact that we have a lot more people living in the metro area and using water.

Now that we are heading into Fall most of us water a lot less than we do during the summer, but still it is important that we conserve water as much as possible. It goes without saying, but water conservation is important and that is why there is an organization that was started in Cobb County called waterSmart. The mission of waterSmart is to promote water conservation. Here are some tips that they recently sent me to help homeowners preserve lawns and gardens while saving water....

- Use pine straw, bark chips or ground hardwood mulch on the roots of the plants and trees to help the soil retain water.
- Leave grass clippings on turf to help supply recycled nutrients and reduce the need for additional fertilizer.
- Don’t fertilize if you can’t water it in. Fertilizer does little good unless it dissolves and enters the soil solution.
- Avoid any sort of soil disturbance that injures roots and reduces their moisture uptake.
- Raise the mower blade during dry weather. Cutting the grass higher encourages deeper rooting and reduces water demand to help your turf survive the drought.
- Aerate your soil to relieve soil compaction and increase air and water movement.
- When it rains, place a large bucket or rain barrel underneath the gutter’s downspout to catch the runoff and save for watering.
- Capture air conditioner condensation and use for watering plants. A typical home air conditioner unit can produce up to 5 gallons of water a day in the hot summer months.
- Use native plants that require less supplemental watering and survive better in dry conditions.

If we all do our part we can ride out this drought and hopefully we can get some good winter rains once we get through our traditionally dry Fall.

Have a great week!


--Chris

harvest time!!!

If you are out for an evening stroll after sunset and it seems a little 'brighter' than usual you would be right. That's because tonight is the 'Harvest Moon'. The Harvest Moon is defined as being the first full moon after the autumnal equinox. Since fall began on Sunday morning and tonight is the full moon... it's the Harvest Moon! :-)

The rationale for the Harvest Moon is that since this is the time of year when many crops are ready for picking... the extra moonlight from a full moon helps the farmers work well into the night. Of course this is no longer the case since we now have electricity to help out... but before lights... we had to use moon light!


So, look east at sunset and enjoy the Harvest Moon!



--Chris

what's that bright star...

If you are an early riser you might look up into the sky and wonder what that bright thing that looks like a star is? Well, it is actually the planet, Venus. Venus reached maximum brightness this morning, but no worries it will be easy to spot over the week ahead. As a matter a fact, it is so bright this time of year that you will be able to see it during the day!

If you want to see it, all you have to do is look east in the same direction as where the sun will rise.

Here is the link to one of my favorite star gazing sites. It covers what's going on over the week ahead. Sky and Telescope

Happy planet gazing!


--Chris

busy, busy...

As I blogged about the other week, the Mrs. and I went on a little beach/football vacation over Labor Day. We started off on Labor Day up in Clemson, SC for the FSU-Clemson game. While the result of the game was certainly not what I wanted, the tailgating with friends was great! Waiting from November to September for college football and tailgating is tooooooo looooonnnnnggggg! :-)

From Clemson we went down the the Gulf coast for a little R&R. The Mrs. definitely earned it with the spread she put together for the football game tailgate! The weather is perfect and because all the kids are back in school, we had the beach to ourselves! That is one of the best secrets of the Gulf coast... the Fall is the best time to visit... especially October when the weather is not as hot, but the water is still warm enough to swim. My wife and I spent time with the folks while we were there. Since Laura Huckabee was in charge of watching our cats, she asked us to bring back some sand for her. While I did not bring sand... I brought back the sound of the shore. Feel free to take a listen...

Seaside Sunset

While at the beach we slipped over to Tallahassee for the FSU-UAB game on September 8th. My wife's folks came down from Camilla to tailgate and go to the game with us. We had a great time! The game was closer than I would have liked and the offense has been downright offensive, but I really think things are going to turn around. Of course, they better turn around quick because we play Bama over in Jacksonville a week from Saturday. Since we got back from the beach trip it has been back to the old grind and trying to recover from the 'vacation.' I know, what a rough life!


Have a great week and see you this weekend!


--Chris

DON'T GET TOO HAPPY

Everyone rushed to the window here at the CBS 46 studios in Midtown today (Tuesday, September 11), to see the spectacle - water falling from the sky. True, it wasn't a lot of rain, but the trees began to sway a bit and the spray was furious at times. There was even some high water at the bottom of the hill where 14th street runs into Northside Avenue. But then again - there's always high water there every time it rains because of poor drainage. A cold front was pushing toward Georgia, forcing cool air from Tennessee to collide into warmer air that's been over us since forever, it seems. In fact, before the rains fell, it was another very warm day with temperatures in the low 90s.

The front should linger over the southeast through the rest of the week bringing us a chance of rain nearly every day, especially on Thursday and Friday as waves of energy ride along the front, causing the air to rise, form clouds and then bring rain down to the parched ground. However, as my blog title implies - wet days won't last long and our drought isn't about to be over. And we can blame the prospect of extended talk of deficit on - La Niña.

The graphic above shows a patch of dark blue in the equatorial Pacific waters. This means the water there is cooler than normal. It's the opposite of the El Niño cycle in which the water is warmer. In the latter scenario, we typically expect more rain, stronger storms and even cooler winters in the southeast. But La Niña's detection will continue to divert the jet stream to our north and limit rainfall. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration confirmed that La Niña is indeed occuring. Prior to that, it seemed to come and go, but NOAA says it's here to stay for a while. The two regimes take turns every 3 to 5 years in a cycle that scientists don't fully understand - they just know how to measure it.

How bad is it? Well this week, the State Climatologist David Stooksbury issued a La Niña Watch. In all the years I've been doing this job, I don't think I've ever heard of this prognosis. Sure, I know all about a Severe Thunderstorm Watch, advising of the imminent development of nasty storms. but I've never known any meteorological body to "watch out" for the likes of la Niña. Perhaps knowing that NOAA had declared La Niña made him confident to make such a declaration.

Here's a clip from Mr. Stooksbury's press release this week:


With the arrival of La Niña, there is a good chance that drought
conditions, currently ranging from exceptional across much of Alabama and Georgia to moderate in south Florida, will continue and possibly worsen throughout the winter and into next spring.

If below normal rainfall occurs during the cool season, moisture
recharge of groundwater, soils, ponds and reservoirs will be limited.

Southeastern states depend on water recharge during the cool season.

Farmers who plan to plant winter forage and do not have irrigation
capability have a high risk of being seriously impacted by the winter drought.

In addition the risk of increased wildfires should be expected during the winter and spring wildfire season in Florida, south Georgia, and lower Alabama.

To be fair, Mr. Stookcbury doesn't act alone. He's part of a group called the Southeast Climate Consortium, an association of climatologists and researchers from various universities. They're just giving everyone a collective "heads up".

So enjoy the rain this week; it should be gone by late Saturday and dry and sunny weather returns Sunday.

It's Football Time!!!

Well, it's that time of year and it certainly felt good to sit down and watch a little college football before heading into work Saturday. The locals of course came away all smiles as both Tech and UGA looked very good against pretty good opponents (on paper). I must say I was pretty jealous as I watch Gil Tyree in all the action up at Sanford Stadium.

My team, Florida State, does not take the field until Monday night up in Clemson. While I enjoyed having the spotlight on my Noles waiting 2 extra days to kick things off sure does test one's patience!

I am lucky enough to be off on Labor Day (thanks for letting me be off Gene & Laura) so the Mrs. and I are going to head to Clemson first thing in the morning to get tailgating! We will be tailgating with 6 or 7 other people. Some I see all the time and others I have not seen in almost a decade! Coordinating that many folks to ensure everything from supplies to food to beverages are all taken care of can be a bit overwhelming, but in the end it will be so worth it. On our menu Monday...

ribs
brunswick stew
pigs in a blanket
pasta salad
chips & dip of course
cookies
and last but not least... Garnet & Gold Jelly Beans

I am already salivating as I type this! Of course I have to give big props to the Mrs. for getting this all together. She is a life-long Georgia fan, but is making herself a pretty decent Nole if I must say so myself.

So, I hope all my UGA and Tech fans had fun yesterday. I can not wait for my turn tomorrow.

Happy Tailgating,


--Chris