Tag Archives: forecast

10-DAY FORECAST

 

 

Dew dampened dust, softened wild oat stems,

petrichor on a downcanyon breeze at four

in the black morning that smells like rain

 

just around the corner in October. I check

the 10-day forecast, craving a storm like always,

but content to paint the gray, slow drip

 

off roof and limb. Nothing but hurricanes

busy elsewhere as the planet goes to hell

as if the very End were near, knocking

 

on the door to who knows what

or which tragic prediction or wretched

explosion will engulf and fling

 

our fractured souls to the solar burn pile.

Dew dampened dust, softened wild oat stems,

petrichor on a downcanyon breeze.

 

 

ANOTHER WEATHER FORECAST

 

With all the hoopla surrounding Climate Change and the approaching El Niño, suddenly the world is focused on the weather and a myriad of conflicting scientific observations and conclusions, heretofore ignored by most in the past.  But for those of us involved in grazing livestock and dependent on the bounties of Mother Nature, October is the beginning of our rainy season as we try to look ahead into our futures.

 

Historically, “The Old Farmer’s Almanac” has offered as accurate a forecast as any:

 

PACIFIC SOUTHWEST

November 2023

             4° below average

             Precipitation 5” (1” below average)

December 2023

            4° below average

            Precipitation 3” (4” below average)

January 2024

            3° below average

            Precipitation 5” (1” below average)

February 2024

            2° above average

            Precipitation 6.5” (2” above average)

March 2024

            3° above average

            Precipitation 1.5” (2.5” below average)

April 2024

            2° above average

            Precipitation 5” (1.5” above average)

May 2024

            2° above average

            Precipitation 0.5” (1.5” below average)

June 2024

            1° below average

            Precipitation 0.05” (1” below average)

For what it’s worth, the rain total comes to 27”, well above our 15” average.  We’ll just have to wait and see.

CHEER

 

 

Nothing near, the long-term forecast

changes on the hour as we look out

over Christmas color, out of storage early,

 

at independent calves at water,

and our persistent green still breathing

with each dawn’s dew. Almost everything

 

we need is near-at-hand before Thanksgiving

with a welcome splash of cheer

as we wait for rain, like always.