[Andy Mayhew]

Aye, 18.6mm overnight here - yet we're still well below the average rainfall for the month!

[Howard Kirby]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hereford-worcester-14663759

 

[Andy Mayhew]

I suspect the rain this week will make no difference to ground water levels because it'll mostly be greedily sucked up by the trees that have been wilting so badly in recent weeks.

[Peter H]

Quote

Andy Mayhew - 25/8/2011 19:25 I suspect the rain this week will make no difference to ground water levels because it'll mostly be greedily sucked up by the trees that have been wilting so badly in recent weeks.

We've had significant rain here in the smallish part of SE Devon that's very dry. I doubt we'll see brown grass again this year, but we also need a lot of rain to bring SMD's back.

 

[Nigel Bolton]

Just dug over a raised bed after extracting the spent flowers. Despite good irrigations this summer, the soil is like dust - and to at least a spade's depth.

N.

[Ian Williams]

Quote

Ian Williams - 14/8/2011 18:11

Reservoir levels continue to drop in the SW, 3 of the 5 main ones barely above half full capacity

http://www.southwestwater.co.uk/media/libraryimage/s/2/Total.jpg

Week ending:	7th August 2011
Week:	31
Total reservoir storage for the week:	68837 Ml (59.7%)
This week last year total storage was:	81252 Ml (70.4%)

Reservoir details			Historic Data
Reservoir	Net Capacity MI	Current Storage %	Last Year's Storage %	1995 Storage %
Roadford	34,500	54.9	69.9	55.0
Colliford	28,540	57.7	77.6	66.3
Wimbleball	21,320	53.0	63.3	54.
Stithians	4,967	60.0	62.9	44.3
Burrator	4,210	77.1	75.7	47.1

I recorded 122.7 mm of rain in August around 170% of average so i was a tadge surprised when David Braine our local bbc wx forecaster last night had said the SW reservoir levels were hoever down to just over 55%

Reservoir levels

 

We monitor the levels of our reservoirs to ensure their optimum operation.

The current levels of our five largest reservoirs are shown in the table below.

Week ending:	28th August 2011
Week:	34
Total reservoir storage for the week:	64264 Ml (55.7%)
This week last year total storage was:	79249 Ml (68.7%)

Reservoir details			Historic Data
Reservoir	Net Capacity MI	Current Storage %	Last Year's Storage %	1995 Storage %
Roadford	34,500	53.5	67.9	42.6
Colliford	28,540	51.6	74.0	57.1
Wimbleball	21,320	48.3	57.1	42.8
Stithians	4,967	53.7	56.1	33.2
Burrator	4,210	72.6	75.8	33.1

[Howard Kirby]

Still very low rivers here:

http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/homeandleisure/floods/riverlevels/120742.aspx?stationId=2057

Summary

The river level at Leintwardine is 0.26 metres.

This measurement was recorded at 16:45 on 03/09/2011.

The typical river level range for this location is between 0.32 metres and 1.05 metres.

The highest river level recorded at this location is 2.32 metres and the river level reached 2.32 metres on 21/07/2007.

Current level: 0.26m

Last 48 hours of available data

[Andy Mayhew]

Just cut the grass. First time since mid June and to be honest most of it barely needed doing even now. At least the borders are fairly weed free this year!

[Nigel Bolton]

My grass has been cut too. Recent rain and very warm nights had caused it to put on a mega growth spurt, and with high humidity, there has been little evaporation, so rain, including last night's heavy shower, now at last is penetrating to depth.
This years effective 'dry', is probably nearing its end.

N.

[John Mason]

Slugs on a feeding-binge over at my patch. First real problem since May!

Cheers - John

[Howard Kirby]

A lot of soil round here is still on the dry side and local rivers are also still very low.

[Peter H]

Nigel Bolton, on 11 September 2011 - 14:15, said:

My grass has been cut too. Recent rain and very warm nights had caused it to put on a mega growth spurt, and with high humidity, there has been little evaporation, so rain, including last night's heavy shower, now at last is penetrating to depth.
This years effective 'dry', is probably nearing its end.

N.

Down here in the Bovey Basin I'd say the dry spell goes on. Yes, we've had rain, and rain days, but we're way away from having enough to get to the water table...And Katia produced little more than some drizzle...

Otoh, I think it's a pretty localised dryness now.

[Andy Mayhew]

Aye, it's looking another dry month down here too atm - and wind hasn't helped

[Howard Kirby]

A few snaps from the local River from Burrington and Leintwardine.
You can make out what I think is the Roman crossing in the foreground of the Leintwardine photo IE the boulders in the foreground that go off to the left parallel to the bridge.

Attached thumbnail(s)

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• 
• 
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[Andy Mayhew]

Howard Kirby, on 15 September 2011 - 17:57, said:

You can make out what I think is the Roman crossing in the foreground of the Leintwardine photo IE the boulders in the foreground that go off to the left parallel to the bridge.

You could be right

[Dave K]

Drought remains in parts of England

Parts of England are still considered to be experiencing a drought, with low ground water levels despite the wet summer, the Environment Agency said. Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire, west Norfolk and parts of Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire remain in drought due to 2011's exceptionally dry spring.


Full story: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-14958556

[Foxy2]

Did those areas have a wet summer? Seems to be a contradiction with METO monthly summaries which suggest many of these areas had less than 70% of average rainfall so wonder where the Environment Agency get the wetter than average summer from? Seems to me that in these areas a dry winter and spring was followed by a dry summer!

[Nigel Bolton]

More or less back to normal regolith-wise here in Devon, ground nice and wet and rivers starting to respond to rainfall. Exe is now flowing as it should, though we will still need a lot more rain to top up the reservoirs. Grockle season is now over, and with lesser evaporation now, even on dry days, the pressure on water supplys should now be a great deal less.
N.

[Dave K]

Foxy2, on 17 September 2011 - 19:15, said:

Did those areas have a wet summer? Seems to be a contradiction with METO monthly summaries which suggest many of these areas had less than 70% of average rainfall so wonder where the Environment Agency get the wetter than average summer from? Seems to me that in these areas a dry winter and spring was followed by a dry summer!

Perhaps it's just not that well worded, that despite the generally wet summer around the UK, some places....etc.

[Andy Mayhew]

My impression is that for some reason there is either ignorance of the fact or a reluctance to point out that as well as a dry winter and spring, some areas had a very dry summer as well. And are so far experiencing a drier than average autumn ....