No matter where you live, if you break the all-time record for rainfall, you know its a big day. 2 inches of rain fell today at the airport in Seattle. I don't have a figure at my farm, 30 miles north, but I have several feet of water in low areas on my pasture.
The rain gauge at the airport just confirmed that this was the most rain ever recorded on this day for as long as records are kept. I sure know that it was raining hard.
The sows were really funny; they had made little hollows in the field, and those were rapidly turning into swimming pools. Now its not all that cold -- 40-50 degrees -- and a big sow or boar has a lot of insulation -- think walrus, or maybe elephant seal. Lots of blubber, so they'll lay out in the rain and pretty much ignore it.
The people who don't ignore it are the folks on the highway. They always call animal control, and I just didn't feel like seeing officer barber so I was out in the muddy field herding the sows into the hoop barn for the night. I left the gate open so they can go out into the mud tomorrow, and they will, but people don't seem to be bothered as much by pigs walking around in the mud as they are with pigs sleeping in the mud. I feel better with the animals in shelter anyway -- I like to think that a farmer can make better choices than the animal can, at least sometimes.
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| Rain. Rain. Rain. Rain. More rain |
Heavy snow in the mountains -- 3 or 4 feet
Warming pattern, that brings rain in on that new snow
heavy rain at the farm
high tide
If all of those things happen I'll be at risk for flood.
River levels for the river that will flood me if it does flood.
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