In the UK in August, you probably don't want rain. In Kansas on the 16th of August, when we could well be burned brown with cracks big enough to drop a hammer down, and temps over 100F, a day like today is amazing. Temps in the low 70s right now, an inch of rain in the gauge with rain forecast through Wednesday, what we call a million dollar rain might be a billion dollar rain with the price of soybeans as they are. The pastures and meadows are as lush and green as they would be the first of June. Even with my haying suffering, it is hard to be anything other than happy with the rain falling outside the window.
Wasn't so happy last night. It started to thunder while I was outside, Mrs. KF came out to tell me we had been paged to storm spot, storm headed straight at us with 60mph winds and hail an inch and a half in diameter. My storm spotting consisted of me driving to my farthest west field of soybeans and sitting in the pickup next to it, like a shepherd tending his flock. The air was dead still and heavy, the sky was black and green. The first hailstone hit the pickup and you could feel my heart sink....luckily, I only got a few stones, and the storm weakened to nearly nothing, I was afraid we wouldn't even get a rain to amount to anything, but that all changed this morning. Not much for me to complain about this morning.