From the North Shore of Little Rock Lake

JULY  2010 WEATHER & PHENOLOGY IN REVIEW

Jim Hovda Rice, MN.  56367-0265 jhovda.rice@jetup.net

 

          Well folks, here we are, ending the seventh month of the year.  It wasn’t all doom and gloom when Jim Gilbert noted that we have lost sixty-seven minutes of sunlight since the summer solstice that occurred on the 20th of June.  It did, however, remind me that summer is on the wane.   The later sunrise is evident. There are other signs that summer is marching on to fall.   The purple martins are no longer sitting on their houses.  Crops of new bunnies are getting larger.  The late summer plants are becoming the dominant ones in bloom.  Black-eyed Susans, Cone Flowers, Monarda and our pink and white Phlox to name a few.   Our local farmers are starting to harvest grain and sweet corn. I’m sure there will be a lot more hot weather coming.

          It has been a disappointment to observe so few butterflies, fewer bluebirds, absolutely no bats flying at dusk and dawn and no evening fireflies.  On the bright side, there has been an explosion of the green and black Leopard Frogs.  For the past (at least) three or four years Jan and I were lucky to see one.  Now, they abound near the gardens and Hosta plants.   I have to be really careful not to have them fall victim to the lawn mower.

         

WEATHER LAST JULY:       Cooler with just a little more rain.  The average low and high temp was nearly five degrees cooler.   I recorded a low of 43.8 and a high of 86.5 degrees for the month.  The low on the 19th was reminiscent of late fall readings.  Rain totaling 3.66" was just a little more than this year.  The year precipitation totaled 17.02" compared to 15.58" this year.  We need to do a little catch up.

 

WEATHER:        Fairly normal temperature-wise.   The low temps mostly in the 50's (21 days) fostered good sleeping weather.  I’m afraid, however, that East Central Electric had their generators working hard.  My bill, when I get it in a few days, will reflect the copious use of the A.C..  A lot of humidity was part of the reason.  The low reading of 50.1 degrees on the 1st was a little more than 40 degrees cooler than the 91.5 degrees on the 17th.  Yes, St. Cloud had more readings in the 90's however living on the north end of a lake gives Jan and I an advantage.

          Fifteen days produced rain.  Rain that really helped the lawn and plants were spread out evenly throughout the month.  The most rain fell on the 17th when thunder storms dumped .91" of welcome rain.  We ended the month with 3.19" and a year total of 15.58" of precipitation. 


WEATHER RECORDS:       Locally our coolest temp was a chilly 40 degrees in 1969 while the warmest ever recorded was a blistering 107 degrees (F) way back in 1934.  In greater MN the cool reading was a below freezing 24 degrees (F) in of course, Tower.  On the warm side of things Beardsley & Moorhead recorded 114 degrees (F) in 1917.  The most precipitation recorded was 12.81" in 1897.

 

PHENOLOGY:        I’ll start at the first of the month.   On the 2nd my first Monarch and a lone Mourning Cloak butterfly flittered by.   The Ligularia (the rocket) started blooming on the 7th and on the 9th several reports of 7 ft corn was reported by local farmers.   On the evening of the 20th Jan and I were startled by a noise on the deck bird feeder.  There it was.  The dreaded racoon.  We both gritted our teeth and set out the live trap to no success.   It has been back a couple of times since.   On the 21st the purple martins were chirping to beat the band.   It was “down hill” from there.  Gradually they started moving out of the houses and into the trees for their venture south.   By the end of the month only a few were heard. 

 

YOU MAY NOT BELIEVE THIS:        Slugs.  I’ve heard of them but not paid much attention to them.  A friend noted a large number of holes in our Hosta plant leaves and commented that I had a real problem with slugs.  Evidently the little buggers ( they look like snails without a shell) about a half to three quarters of an inch long slither up the plants and eat the leaves.  They eat at night.  I was informed that beer would take care of the problem.  Not believing this tail, Jan and I checked 1001 All-Natural Secrets to a PEST  FREE PROPERTY by Dr. Myles H Bader.  Sure enough. Beer would do the trick.   I placed several shallow containers in different locations.   Two hit the jackpot.  I must have “taken out” well more than 200 KIA with the beer.  I couldn’t believe it.  And, they don’t consume much either leaving me with plenty for myself.  It is apparent tho that I need to revisit slug haven in August.   Really cheap beer is recommended.

 

A BIRD FACT:     While resting, a hummingbird takes 250 breaths per minute.