Button Says Grant County Has Already Received 1.89 Inches Of Moisture For July

According to National Weather Service Cooperative Weather Observer Don Button, July is typically one of the months when Grant County will see more moisture.

And it appears that trend is continuing.

"The last three days, according to my rain gauge, Grant County has received 1.89 inches of rain," Button said on Monday. "For July to get this many days in a row is a little unusual."

Button, who lives four miles northeast of Ulysses, said he recorded 4.74 inches for the month of May and a little over 4 inches for the month of June.

"Which, (those numbers for May and June) are a little more than normal," Button said. "For July, normally we might get 2 inches during the month. Here it is only July 7, and, at least at my place, we have already gotten 1.89 inches."

Storms on July 4 were accompanied by some high winds.

"I had one pretty good size tree limb down in the one tree I have out here," Button said. "And some siding got blown off of one of my buildings. There were smaller tree limbs laying everywhere. Thunderstorm winds that came through, some said  they were 65 to 70 mph winds. I didn't measure it, so when I in sent my information to the weather service, I said 55 mph plus."

Although rain is typically a welcome sight, some of the weather activity recently has caused a few issues.

"Some of the recent weather has slowed down the farmers," Button said. "It has slowed them down on the wheat. The wheat they are trying to get now - it's starting to cause issues. The weeds are really starting to take off. Wheat around here has been kind of short to begin with in our area. It is shorter than normal and now starting to get the pig weed and stuff like that coming up through the wheat. So, it's a little tougher to cut. I lucked out and got mine cut last week just before the weeds starting popping up."

How does Button think this year's wheat crops are looking?

"Mine only did 22, which is not real good," he said. "I think a lot of that is due to the fact we didn't get a whole lot of moisture over the winter. By the time it came out of the dormancy in March ... We didn't get much moisture in March or April. By the time it was May, things were already starting to make. I haven't talked to any others around to see how they are doing, but I would say some of it may be doing really well and other not so well."

Fortunately, hail has not been a huge issue in this area.

"We have had some hail, but the biggest I have seen is quarter size - nothing like they have seen in Stanton County where they had softball size hail with the tornado that came through there in June," Button said. "There has been some areas down south, I think, that have had a little bigger hail than what we have seen. I lucked out here and didn't get that big of stuff. - at least not through here."

Tornado season in Southwest Kansas is normally April, May and June, according to Button.

"We can get them just about any time, but normally it's those months," he said. "May and June are the bigger months with chances of tornadoes. With the way the weather pops up this year everything has been a little crazy, but at least we aren't getting what they are getting down in Texas."

Button said he has been watching the flooding news which occurred in Texas over the Fourth of July holiday.
"When water can rise 36 feet in under two or three hours - that is a big wall of water," he said. "When I got sent to Katrina back in 2005 - where I went they had a 30-foot surge which came through there. I saw big boats on top of houses that were on stilts - that was a big wall of water, too."

According to Button, he is not aware of any local responders who have been called to assist in Texas.

"I am still a part of the incident management team or incident support team for the state," he said. "We have not gotten any requests yet for emergency management assistance compacts. And, I haven't heard if the swift water teams back in the eastern part of the state have been called to go down there or not."

The moisture received in Grant County has "somewhat alleviated" possible drought conditions.

"I would say right now we are not in a drought, but are we totally caught up - no," Button said. "To me, we are still kind of in the dry area. Even with 1.89 inches over three days - I've got a half mile of dirt road and I'm not leaving tracks going to the highway. The ground is soaking it up pretty hard."

The moisture has helped with making things more green, according to Button.

"With the amount of rain we have gotten over the last couple of months, it has helped with getting  some of the green coming up instead of the dry weeds and grass," he said. "I know the fire department has still had some calls for combine fires and a couple of wheat fires, but that is just part of it during harvest."

Is wheat harvest over in this area?

"It's hard to tell," Button said. "I just talked to a farmer in the Southwest part of the county and he said he still had like 800 acres to cut. He just really got started this week. He said he is having to wait until way late in the afternoon and then hope he doesn't hit any mud spots."

Farming is a gamble.

"No matter which way you run with it," Button said. "Farmers just about have to be gamblers. That's why I had a regular full time job, so I didn't fully depend on farming like some do. I've also leased my ground out for years and I just get whatever it makes. That way I don't have to have all the big expensive equipment and everything else."