Grant County In Severe Drought, Residents Praying For Moisture

Monday Grant County had some rainfall; however, it was not nearly enough to change the drought residents find themselves in.

"We are definitely in a drought - it's bad," said Grant County resident Don Button. It didn't do us a whole lot of good. The dirt has already been blowing a little bit out here."

The "out here" for Button and his wife, Vivian, who are Cooperative Weather Observers for the National Weather Service, is where they live - four miles northeast of Ulysses.

Last year (2022) was the driest Grant County has been in 10 years.

"We got 9.6 inches for the whole year - this year hasn't been much better so far," Button said. "We are probably under a half inch or right around a half inch for the year so far."

Vivian looked back at data and Button then added, "We are 68 hundredths so far this year,. That's not much considering our average is 16 normally."

Button broke down the figures for 2022.

"That's figuring snow moisture and everything through the winter months," he said. "We got 15 hundredths for the month of January in 2022; February was 4 hundredths; March, 44 hundredths; April 81 hundredths; May 124 hundredths; June 2.6; July 3.14; August 94 hundredths; September 17 hundredths; last October we got a trace; November 5 hundredths and in December we got 2 hundredths.

May, June and July were the "wet months" for Grant County in 2022.

"July is a lot of times one of our wetter months," Button said.

And the forecast for Grant County is not showing any signs of improvement.

"I watched it today and it sprinkled," Button said. "That's just not fair."

"It's that way all in the Southwest corner of the state," he added. "Even parts of South Central, the Northwest and North Central. It's just we are a little worse than the rest of them. They are used to more rain than we are out here, but when their average is 20 and they have only gotten 10 or 15 - they are hurting."

The Buttons have been Cooperative Weather Observers for more than 22 years.

"Lavon Walters was the emergency Manager and I was his volunteer," Button explained of how the couple became weather observers. "(Lavon) was doing it (weather observer) and then when he retired, he talked Vivian and I in to taking it over. We haven't given it up yet. We have talked to the National Weather Service about giving it up, but we haven't found anybody who is willing to take it yet. In the 22 years, we haven't missed a day."

Button explained their dedication to the public service position matter of factually.

"If we are going to take on something we want to do it right," he said. "We have had some friends of ours who have taken it when we both had to be out of town."

The couple was honored by the National Weather Service in January for their, at the time, 21 years of dedication. Vivian and Don have been recording temperatures, precipitation, and snowfall for the National Weather Service since 2001, with Vivian as the primary observer and Don as the backup. 

When asked what the interest was in being a weather observer, Button said "it's community."

"It's all about community - what I can do to help keep our community as safe as possible," Button said.
"I've been fortunate enough during my years to be deployed to disasters. If it means me going and doing training and sharing some of my expertise that I have been involved with - share some of that so others can learn from it - that's what matters. I did it for 46 years  with the county in one form or fashion whether it was law enforcement, emergency management or fire."

Because of the severe drought in Grant County, everyone needs to be a part of the safety.

"People need to be careful with fires," Button said. "We have a fantastic fire department, but it's all volunteers. Depending on the day and time - that will determine if we have enough folks to respond. As dry as it is and with the kind of winds we have been having lately - it wouldn't take long for something to take off and just flat run."

If someone in the community sees something they think could be a fire, it's important that they speak up, according to Button.

"Don't be afraid to report it - if people have concerns call it in," he said. "Law enforcement will check it out or they may call the fire department to check it out. It's better to send us and find out it's nothing big, than to wait until it's gotten big and try to catch it. Doing that puts responders in harms way potentially as well as residents in danger of losing their homes because of the fire."

Button said he has witnessed what can happen.

"I saw that in Ashland (Kansas) back in 2017 with the Starbuck fire when they burnt 400,000 acres in Clark County," he said. "With the amount of cattle we have and other livestock - if they are out and about it's hard to get them out of harms way in a hurry."

Alertness is key.

"People just need to be aware - it's the same way with the weather, just because we haven't had anything - don't get complacent with it," he said. "Have a plan in place. 'What am I going to do if it does this?  What am I going to do if it is flooding, heavy rain or lightening? Or even tornadoes?' I know the tornado alley has been shifted a little, bit still, we've got a chance of it happening. We can't get too complacent over everything."