It really rained here today. Really, really rained!  The thunder and lightening were grumbling and popping all around and over us!  So far our rain gauge is at 3.5” for the day.  The cell sat right on top of us for several hours.  It even hailed at our house in Pilon. Yes, hail!   Lots of folks here in Vieques have never seen hail. Delvin, our backwaiter, scolded me.  He wanted to know why I didn’t collect it and put it in the freezer so that he could see it.  Next time he told me I have to save some for him.

Hopefully this means our weather will return to usual for this time of year.  Although, gentle rains are greatly appreciated as one of my new garden beds is destroyed.  I think it is time to rethink that drainage situation.  That said we are thankful not to repeat the drought of 2015.  Off to listen to the frogs… They are so happy tonight.

Take care,

K

Technical difficulty with my last post so here it is again!

The remnants of Danny rolled through yesterday.  We received rain!  My funky little rain gauge showed about 1.5”.  Something is something!  But the best part of yesterday was the loud thunder and lightening.  What a show! And what a wake up call.  I launched out of bed to watch it rain grinning from ear to ear. Rain, rain, rain at last.  The power stayed on with plenty of blips around 4:45 am.  The best part is that our reservoir n Main Island received rain too.  According to the gossip mill (I did not read this first hand) the Rio Blanco reservoir picked up 2”!  So no water rationing in our immediate future but please use water sparingly. 

So now we wait for Erika.  Another rain event with some wind at 45 mph with gusts to 50 mph.  Her closest point of approach will be tomorrow, Thursday, at 8:36 pm and 22.3 miles away.  Since the winds extend 105 miles out and primarily to the east we should feel some of it.  But we have an even greater chance of rain! 2-4 inches with the possibility of 8 inches in some areas.  So my tropical storm list to do today is remove all of the cushions from the porch, clean out and set up the candle holders, and move my smallest plants down low.  Of course I will have to stock up on the obligatory milk, wine (for me) and beer for the hubby!

Also the port is under code X-Ray and is expected to move to Zulu tomorrow morning at 6:00 am.  That means no ferry.  I have been listening to planes taking off and landing all morning.  When I get an update on the flight situation I will let you know.

So from a Vieques that is starting to green up with some really happy horses, birds and small critters we say to Erika “Give us more rain and easy on the wind.”

K

The remnants of Danny rolled through yesterday.  We received rain!  My funky little rain gauge showed about 1.5”.  Something is something!  But the best part of yesterday was the loud thunder and lightening.  What a show! And what a wake up call.  I launched out of bed to watch it rain.  I was grinning ear to ear.  Rain, rain, rain at last.  The power stayed on with plenty of blips around 4:45 am.  The best part is that our reservoir on Main Island received rain too.  According to the gossip mill (I did not read this first hand) the Rio Blanco reservoir picked up 2”!  So no water rationing in our immediate future but please use water sparingly. See the chart below!

So now we wait for Erika.  Another rain event with some wind at 45 mph with gusts at 50 mph.  Her closest approach will be tomorrow, Thursday, at 8:36 pm and 22.3 miles away.  Since the winds extend 105 miles out and primarily to the east we should feel some of it.  But we have an even greater chance of rain!  2-4 inches with the possibility of 8 inches in some areas.  So my tropical storm list to do today is remove all of the cushions from the porch, clean out and set up the candle holders, and move my smallest plants down low.  Of course I will have to stock up on the obligatory milk, wine (for me) and beer for the hubby!

Also the port is under code X- Ray and expected to move to Zulu tomorrow morning at 6:00 am.  That means no ferry.  I have been listening to planes taking off and landing all morning.  When I get an update on the flight situation I will let you know.

So from a Vieques that is starting to green up with some really happy horses, birds and small critters we say to Erika “Give us more rain and easy on the wind”.

K

NIVELES Embalses

Hi there,

Danny is headed way to the South of us.  That said I hope not too far away to share some rain!!!!  Please Danny bring us rain!!!

Off to work,

K

What a day watching Danny!  He is a trooper, that is for sure.  He is downgrading in strength as I type.  So now we get to sit and wait and see how far north of us he will travel and what he will become.  Right now he will just nearly miss Vieques but I still think he will move to the North a bit.  That said we need rain!  I saw a blogger on Wunderground (In Dr. Jeff Masters section) that had a big blob of moisture running over the reservoirs in eastern PR from Danny.  I know that is “wish casting” but is would also be a dream come true for us.   Below is the drought map for PR.  What you are seeing on the East side of PR (including Culebra and Vieques) is severe to extreme drought.  So Danny please send some rain and no wind.  Fill our reservoirs, water the plants and horses.

As for our rain event today…  A brief shower.  Enough to kick up the dust as the drops fell but not enough to quench the dry earth. 

Off to work…

K

Hi there from dry, hot Vieques!

We finally received a bit of rain last Saturday night and Sunday.  It was a relief to hear some rain drops but still not enough to relieve our severe/ extreme drought.  I have been filling 5 gallon buckets of mangoes for the hungry horses and mounding them on the other side the fence.  They love to eat them and for a while I was able to put 4- 6 buckets a day out there.  Today I only had 2 buckets and I got a look from one of the horses.  I think she was like “Really?  2 buckets for all 6 of us?”.  At least some of the horse grass is starting to grow again and that means a little food.  However there is not any water for them to drink.  Please put buckets out for them with fresh water.  (From experience I would chain them to the fence or they might disappear!)  My “adopted” herd of 6 drinks about 24- 30 gallons in 24 hours.  But I think another group is stopping by for a sip late at night.  And there is one little lady that loves to let water roll down here nose, around her eyes, and then shake her head. 

A little action is happening in the Atlantic.  TS Danny is trying to develop.  It is far too early to say where, when, how strong or even if he will make it.  We really could use the rain but we need it without wind.  Something to watch…

Our next chance of rain is a weak wave that will pass through on Friday.  It doesn’t look promising but beggars can’t be choosers when it comes to rain.

Off to work… 15 nights left until El Quenepo closes for the season!

K

Good early evening everyone,

Not too much to report form the Isla Nena.  We are just hoping for rain.  It looks like we have a chance tomorrow.  Please let it happen.  We are dry and dusty here.  When I was driving across the island today everything was brown, brown, brown and then on the Destino hillside great big swaths of red appeared.  Thank goodness for the Flamboyan trees throwing out their vibrant color!  After tomorrow the Sahara Air layer moves back in for more hazy, hot dryness.  Next chance for rain is Monday.  Hopefully it will come! Thank goodness we are not on water restrictions like the folks on main island.  In the NYT they reported about people coming up with creative ideas to conserve water.  I never thought about using the toilet tank water to wash my hands.  Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Patronales starts tonight!!!!  It should be great fun.  One good thing about all of this dry weather is that the festivities won’t be rained out.  I remember one year huddling under a tent with 50 other people when a deluge hit.  Three of us held a stroller with a sleeping little one up above the river that flowed under the tent.  It was raining so hard everyone just laughed.  I sure wish we had that rain now. 

Have a good one,

K