Rain and More Rain!

I was amazed this morning when I looked out at my rain gauge and saw there was water in the outer tube, indicating we'd had well over an inch of rain.  This is the "professional" rain gauge recommended by CoCoRaHS, and the inner tube holds 1 in. of precipitation; when full, it overflows into the larger tube, which will hold up to 11 inches.  I measure and empty the gauge at 9 a.m. every morning, and sometimes, if a storm comes during the daytime, especially when I'm measuring snow, I'll send a special storm report.  Last night we heard the heavy rain, but it seemed to last pretty much through the night, so I didn't bother with a storm report.  At 9 a.m. I measured 2.85 in. of rain.  That was more than anyone else in all of Vermont reported this morning.  The closest was another volunteer in Cabot, who reported 2.40 in. and Calais reported 2.30.  I don't know who or where in Cabot the other volunteer is, only that he/she is located 2.3 miles east of the village center.  My station is 3.9 miles ENE of the village center, so I'm guessing Danville Hill area might be the other location.  Jeff Merrell, in Danville, reported 1.49 in., but he reports about three hours earlier than I do.  Reports are made every 24 hrs., as close as possible to the same time each day.  I chose to report at 9 a.m. as I thoroughly enjoy "sleeping in" some days.  In my defense, I did the early-rise-every-morning routine for years, and now, in my retirement years, I can get up when I darn well please.

Just for the fun of it, I went back to find how much precipitation (rain and snow) I'd reported in previous years, and this is what I found:  2010, 52.61 in.; 2011, 65.08 in.; 2012, 46.88 in.; and so far this year, 46.32 in.  I started volunteering on June 1, 2009, and reported a total of 32.95 in. of precip for those seven months.  It looks as if this year could be as wet as 2011.

The kayak that the Sherwoods found yesterday, has been claimed.  With all this water and windy periods, I expect other items will be floating away around the pond.  The weather has a habit of turning wild sometimes, so it's always a good idea to tie everything down securely or put things inside secure shelters, even if you are still at your cottage; and always be sure everything is secure before leaving for the winter.  Just about every fall we have items floating around when most boats are put away for the season and/or there's nobody around to go out and rescue them.  The danger is that the item will go over the dam and be lost forever, or, if it's large, will lodge against someone's wall, dock or boathouse and cause damage.  Each spring we go through trying to sort out where the docks and other "lost" items belong that have survived the winter loose in the pond.

This is a picture I took yesterday as the rain cleared for a short period just about supper time.  The clear sky didn't last long, and in the overnight downpour, lots of apples were knocked from our tree.  There had been a lot of them on the ground a few days ago, but during the last two nights, there has been a beautiful little doe out there stuffing herself.  Fred  got this picture early this morning as she was back, cleaning up under the tree.  No more applesauce for us this year, I guess.  

When we were in St. Johnsbury yesterday, I saw our neighbor, Shirley Maynard, and she said the raccoons got all her sweet corn this year.  She said she'd had just one meal from the first patch she'd planted, and the coons got that; then she was about to pick the rest from a second lot that was ready just a little after the first planting, but the 'coons got to it before she did.  Shirley is an amazing gardener, and I guess the raccoons are well aware of that.