And then the rains came
By Bill Radford
What a gloriously wet spring.
Although it became a little less glorious when more than 4 inches of rain fell in less than 24 hours in early June in the Falcon area. (Our rain gauge claimed even more — at least a half-foot of rain.) That’s when the water crept into a gap around the chimney of our wood-burning stove and made its way into the house, leaving a puddle on the floor (and the TV) that we discovered upon getting up in the morning. We had seen signs of trouble before — a bit of seeming water damage in the corner between the ceiling and the wall. This time, there was no missing it.
Turns out the caulk around the chimney had deteriorated over the years and a hole had developed. We got a guy out to fix it — thanks Manny from Total Roofing — but now we have presumed ceiling damage and drywall to repair. But the TV survived! (When we bought our house, I had figured our metal roof would prevent any weather issues; I figured wrong.)
Other than that, we have welcomed the rain — even with the chicken yard transformed into a swamp and Falcon-area roads becoming flooded during the worst of it.
It wasn’t so promising for drought-relieving rain early in the year. After a dry March that saw essentially no snow, meteorologist Mark Wankowski from the National Weather Service in Pueblo told the Colorado Springs Gazette, “Right now, the outlook is drier than normal through the spring.”
But then the rains came. May was the sixth-wettest May on record for Colorado Springs, with the airport recording 5.22 inches, the Weather Service reported; the National Integrated Drought Information System said it was the fifth wettest May for El Paso County over the past 129 years. (It also noted that 0% of people in El Paso County were affected by drought at month’s end.)
“Overall, this May was not as wet as the ‘Miracle May’ of 2015, but there was still a whole lot of water that fell!” the Colorado Climate Center noted in its “Monthly State of the Climate.” (That May in 2015 is the wettest on record for the area; Colorado Springs saw 8.13 inches of rain.)
This year’s spring rains, the product of a persistent and “relatively cool and wet weather pattern,” continued into June — as reflected in my leaking roof.
And there’s still the monsoon, which typically ramps up in July, when, as the Colorado Climate Center states, “Afternoon thunderstorms become an almost daily occurrence.” The “Seasonal Precipitation Outlook” for July through September from the National Weather Service’s Climate Prediction Center shows equal chances of above, below or near normal precipitation for most of Colorado.
What will be will be. For now, we’re just reveling in all the green — even if it is a lot of work for me and my mower. I could be remembering wrong — I wish I had kept weather records for the years we’ve been out in the prairie — but I remember last summer as a dry one, with brown dominating over green and my mower hardly getting a workout.
I asked folks on Nextdoor if this was one of the wettest springs they could remember. “My family and I have been here for 18 years, and yes, this has been the wettest,” Sarah Valerio posted. “I have lived here since 1973, never have seen this,” said Laurie Coulter.
Some others, though, say they remember rainy springs as a regular occurrence once upon a time. “We’ve had springs with more rain,” Dawn Walker posted. “It’s been a while but this used to be normal 20-plus years ago.”
“It was this way years ago … like late 90s,” Sally Coleman echoed.
Whether spring or summer rains, my little corner of the prairie must have been known for plenty of rain at some point; if not, why would we have three giant culverts beneath the road right past our pasture? But the early June rain was the first time we had seen such a torrent of water race across the pasture and through those culverts. Smaller culverts throughout our neighborhood couldn’t handle all that rain, which carved paths through roads and driveways.
While a few seemed ready for a break, the dozens who responded on Nextdoor were generally quite happy to see the heavens open up.
“All of the water nature brings is always welcome. … Bring all the rain!” proclaimed Chris Larson.
I’ll second that — particularly now that our roof is patched.
Prairie Life Garrett: A water-logged area off Garrett Road: That stretch of Garrett would be flooded during a storm a few days later.
Prairie Life Wet pasture: Rainfall races across the Radfords’ pasture into the horse arena and through large culverts beneath the road.
May was the sixth-wettest May on record for Colorado Springs, with the airport recording 5.22 inches, the Weather Service reported; the National Integrated Drought Information System said it was the fifth wettest May for El Paso County over the past 129 years. (It also noted that 0% of people in El Paso County were affected by drought at month’s end.)
