Texas Twisters

[WVBill]

Just saw this news story about Tornadoes in Texas.

http://msnbcmedia3.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Video/080424/n_texas_tornadoes_080424.grid-4x3.jpg

Are all of you Texas TBNers OK?


WVBill

 

[Bird]

Late yesterday evening and last night, some pretty severe weather passed by the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. The hardest hit was south of I-20. I think a couple of dozen homes were pretty severely damaged. I'm about 40 miles north of the heavy stuff, got 2.4" of rain in my gauge, but no apparent damage. I was glad to get my yard watered, but do feel sorry for those folks farther south. I saw one report that Burleson (just south of Ft. Worth) got 8" of rain. I sure don't need that much all at once.

 

[jinman]

Late yesterday evening and last night, some pretty severe weather passed by the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. The hardest hit was south of I-20. I think a couple of dozen homes were pretty severely damaged. I'm about 40 miles north of the heavy stuff, got 2.4" of rain in my gauge, but no apparently damage. I was glad to get my yard watered, but do feel sorry for those folks farther south. I saw one report that Burleson (just south of Ft. Worth) got 8" of rain. I sure don't need that much all at once.

Bird,
I heard this morning on WBAP that last night's storms produced a lot of damage, but no serious injuries or fatalities were reported even in the hardest hit areas. Amazing!

 

[texbaylea]

We had good weather. There were severe thunderstorms one county North of us but all we had were some wind gusts. I am glad there apparently were no serious injuries.

Vernon

 

[Unclebuck257]

It's Saturday the 26th and they're saying we've got a real good chance for severe storms again tonight. You know, in recent years we've had a few real severe T-Strms every year but NEVER can I remember a year like this where they are ALL severe with the huge, widespread hail and damage we've been getting this year. Every line of storms that comes through has been on the very severe side and had hail and tornados in them. Two weeks ago we had 80 mph winds driving baseball sized hail out here. Every strm so far has had some hail in it and the smallest has been nickel sized. I just had a new roof put on last year due to wind damage, not hail damage, and now it's totalled again and I have to put another new roof on this year too due to that baseball sized hail. Man did that big hail do a job on our paint and window frames too!

Put the tractor and pickup in the barn before it hit!! Got to protect what's important!!! LOL!!

 

[Bird]

Yep, I've been really lucky so far with the severe storms missing me; have just had plenty of rain and enough wind to get half of one Bradford Pear tree. I sure hope our luck holds out. I mowed the yard 4 days ago, and again today. All the rain is sure making the grass grow.

 

[texbaylea]

Yep, I've been really lucky so far with the severe storms missing me; have just had plenty of rain and enough wind to get half of one Bradford Pear tree. I sure hope our luck holds out. I mowed the yard 4 days ago, and again today. All the rain is sure making the grass grow.

We are south of the areas where the really heavy weather has been occurring but we have received good amounts of rain. The heavier storm cells seem to die out before they get down to us. The winds have been high enough to bring down dead limbs and vines however. I cut off a lot of grape vines about 3 years ago and they are beginning to break up and come down.

I am under edict that I may not mow until the bluebonnets have gone to seed. Hard to wait since everything is growing rapidly.

Vernon

 

[Bird]

Vernon, there seems to be a shortage of bluebonnets in my area this year, although we have an abundant supply of buttercups.

 

[wushaw]

I don't mow where the Bluebonnets are till @ the second week of June.

The Bluebonnet crop is not as lush as it was last year, I do have a little more Paint brushes than last year though.

 

[Jimmyp5]

All well in Decatur... I think we got too much rain for the bluebonnets... I noticed that those on hight ground came out pretty full, the rest were hit and miss..

 

[jinman]

All well in Decatur... I think we got too much rain for the bluebonnets... I noticed that those on hight ground came out pretty full, the rest were hit and miss..

Jimmy, I watch my bluebonnets very closely all through the year. New plants normally emerge in September and stay tiny all winter long. They make a deep root system to support their quick spurt of growth in the spring when they seem to burst up out of the ground and bloom.

Last fall, I had to search and search to find plants. Our dry fall seems to have stopped the seeds from germinating properly. As a result, we hardly have any bluebonnets where they normally cover the ground.

What Bird called "buttercups" are actually evening primrose, I think. They seem to really being doing well this season. I even have patches of them in my yard that I've mowed around. The foxglove is also starting to come out.

EDIT: The buttercups are actually called "showy primrose" and are part of the evening primrose family. Here is a link:
Showy Primrose

 

[Bird]

What Bird called "buttercups" are actually evening primrose, I think.

Jim, there is no doubt that you know a lot more about flowers than I do. In fact, you wouldn't have to know much to know more than I do. I have been searching on google for buttercup and evening primrose pictures. The buttercup pictures I found are certainly not the flowers I see everywhere alongside the road. So that would lead me to believe what I called buttercups are not buttercups, as you said. But the odd thing is that I found lots of websites claiming to have pictures of evening primrose. One such site had a picture of the right flower, but all the other sites had pictures that weren't even close. Oh well, they're kinda pretty whatever they are.

 

[jinman]

The buttercup pictures I found are certainly not the flowers I see everywhere alongside the road. So that would lead me to believe what I called buttercups are not buttercups, as you said.

Well, Bird, I didn't say that they were not buttercups. They are certainly called buttercups. They are also showy primrose. If you search for showy primrose, I think you will find more of what you see in the medians on the highway. Most sites also say that they are called buttercups. One problem I have with so many of the wildflower sites is that they will show one flower as a close-up and not show the whole plant. They also often don't tell you that flowers can be different shades like white to pink depending on soil chemistry. Here is a wide picture of one small patch of showy primrose buttercups I took several years ago.

 

[Bird]

Yep, that's what we have an abundant supply of this year.