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Midwest Weather


minermark

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The lake just reached the service spillway this morning, and we're forecast for rain all week.  I can throw a rock and hit Lake Arlington from my back door (I don't have to throw quite as far this morning), but the drop to the lake is something like 8-10 feet from my back yard, so I'm not worried about getting my feet wet.  I wish I could say the same of the houses that are built downstream of the spillway and the expensive house between the lake and my back yard.  Perhaps I'll have lake-front property this year. :o

 

We've had a lot of rain this spring, but about the average number of tornadic thunderstorms (3-4 storm separate days this year).  We lost a 50' Italian Cypress three weeks ago during the worst with the storm sirens blaring from the fire stations...I disliked that tree anyway...  But no great damage like there was two years ago when a tornado tore up a retirement home about 7/10ths of a mile east, took out a Methodist church, and took bunch of shingles and some roofs further south along TX287. 

 

All this is nothing compared to Oklahoma.  I'm really glad that I live here.  Central OK is by far the world's capital for spindly looking clouds, IIRC.  I wouldn't live there unless my house was built of steel and concrete and mostly underground.

Edited by Chris A
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An Italian Cypress is definitely not something to replant.  When I see certain species fare the worst in our severe weather, be it any season, I think "there's your sign."  I try to pass the information along when I can, but you still see people putting in cottonwoods and silver leaf maples and Bradford pears and Arizona ash etc...

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One day while driving home from work, I looked to the left as I entered my subdivision and saw a guy looking at a great, big bash in the roof of his expensive Toyota SUV and a really big cottonwood limb laying on the ground next to the car on the driveway.  The cottonwood that it came from was about 3 feet diameter at the base and massive on the empty lot next to the house.  Later that week, all that remained of that cottonwood tree was a very large stump...

 

Cottonwoods are really worthless, or even less-since they afflict those who're allergic to them every spring with clouds of cottonwood drifts streaming from the trees.

 

Silver leaf maples always head for the sewer lines like moles to the veggie garden, and Bradford pears...well,what can you say?  They're pretty unless you've got to prune them, or you're allergic to their blooms, or they don't survive the windstorms.  Arizona ash is pretty until you've got to prune them...which is pretty soon since they grow like weeds.  Otherwise...

 

Live oaks are the answer: they grow slowly and provide lots of shade...for your grandchildren in about 50 years.

 

Chris

Edited by Chris A
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Burr oaks are even better.  They grow fast for an oak.  One of mine is forty feet tall from five feet 25 years ago.  The only problem some may have is the acorns are the size of golf balls, but those come in handy for  throwing at the stray cats to chase them off.

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I lost every bradford pear hybrid I ever planted within 10-15 years from ice, snow or wind.  Red oaks are great but don't waste time with container grown.  It should be a crime for nursery's to sell them this way!  The tap root grows too fast and starts to spiral and will continue to do so long after planted in the ground.  It will eventually strangle itself and die in 20 years or so (guess how I know this now).  Bare root, balled, or even better... grow from an acorn.  

 

My parents had a forest of loblolly pines that someone planted 50+ years ago. They were mostly over 70' but I'll bet some were 90'!   All but a half a dozen or so were wiped out by the edge of the tornado a few years ago.  I was amazed that the few stood up to the wind but it was the skinny and somewhat scrawny ones that survived.  They have even fewer branches now but are filling out nicely and growing as they are enjoying their new found elbow room!

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I tend to watch the Oaks around the property here.  Had one that was about 40' from the house and leaning over the house.  Had it and some others removed this year.

 

This summer don't look to good here in Oregon.  7% snow pack, river behind dad's is so low I can wade across.

Living in Forested neighborhood I'm of course worried about fire.  Rained last night so I set off the last of the model rockets for this season.  (Well Maybe)

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Well we are now in a little low pressure trough, had our first thunder bumper in three years, must have dumped a 1/4", took an hour to move north, lightning, the works.

Drama queen media pre-empts three channels for constant coverage w/radar hoping they will be the first to report a water spout.

I flip through channels looking for who has the best Radar and chicks ranting on impending doom. 

Edited by minermark
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Live oaks are the answer

 

#1 cause of foundation issues around here.  In the summer when it's hot and dry  the roots will suck all the moisture out from under your house.  The ground shrinks up and the foundation drops.  I had 2 beautiful shade producers that I had to cut down for that very reason.

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I have to admit that I love the Oaks.  Just not as much as the wife.  

 

How far away from the house is safe for foundations?

 

There is some Giant Oaks that I'd like to get some acorns from.  I'd never get to see them full grown around the house but the ones I speak of are at least 3' diameter and some over 4'.  Somewhere around 200' tall + - I'd guess although I've never measured.

 

Guess I need to make a trip to gather acorns and measurements. 

 

Plant them a couple hundred feet from the house.

Edited by Taz
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  • 2 weeks later...

Well, I live in north central Texas (D/FW area) and I can tell you that the issues are real and not improving very rapidly.  All that rain is moving north-northeast, as you've indicated.

 

We've had 1.5 inches of rain since midnight, over 4 inches within the past week. which further goes down the drain to the folks awaiting that live in the built-up flood plain real estate areas.  I haven't heard from anyone about flooding in Arlington, but I can tell you that I'm having to plan my highway route today in order to avoid flooded highways., as well as the folks living at my destination trying to stay above water level. More rain is forecast all week: http://forecast.weather.gov/MapClick.php?w0=t&w1=td&w2=wc&w3=sfcwind&w3u=1&w4=sky&w5=pop&w6=rh&w7=rain&w8=thunder&w9=snow&w10=fzg&w11=sleet&w12=fog&w13u=0&w16u=1&w17u=1&AheadHour=0&Submit=Submit&FcstType=graphical&textField1=32.68489&textField2=-97.15134&site=fwd&unit=0&dd=&bw=

 

Glub, glub. :ph34r:

 

Chris

Edited by Chris A
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