Wettest year on record

[Kubota Newbie]

Well, it is official, Central Ohio has now surpassed the previous record for precipitation. Just over 53 inches and it's raining again. Normal here is around 39. About now I'm looking at two rows of round bales and really thinking that front wheel assist would've been nice on my M4500. I guess it's squared hay 'till we get a freeze. On the bright side, at least I do have a cab, so I'll be out of the weather when it does get cold enough to get around without being axle deep in mud.

 

[Stumpy]

Tell me about it. I'm up along the Lake and our back yard is a muddy mess (which the dog loves) and we've had water leaking through the block into our basement. The swale which normally drains all the water coming off the hill into the woods has filled in a bit over the years and we would get a lake under our deck at anything over 1/2in per hour. We've had to take the deck apart and get a contractor out to dig up and rewaterproof the basement under the deck. He's also installing a french drain in the swale to alleviate that problem. The only thing is it's too muddy for him to work right now! He's waiting for the ground to freeze so he doesn't destroy the whole back yard (and blow all his profit on grass seed).

 

[Kubota Newbie]

I feel for ya. My day job is in soil and water conservation, we've fielded our share of calls this year on water management issues for rural home owners and agricultural producers alike. Make sure the contractor doesn't hook the eave spout drains into the footer tile. They can easily overload the typical footer drain system and cause the water to back up during a heavy rain, the eave spouts should have their own drain tile outlet to avoid that issue. The most effective solution is always to make sure that you've got good surface drainage away from the foundation so that the only thing the tile lines have to do is intercept water in the soil profile. The french drain isn't a bad idea, but for the same reason it shouldn't be connected to the footer drain. Sounds like you're in a wooded area, I'd have him use non-perforated tile everywhere except where you have to intercept or collect water. Tree roots have this nasty habit of migrating into tile drains over time causing a gradual decrease in effectiveness and eventually complete blockage. Not a bad idea to tape joints/connections through a wooded area either (tree roots will generally cause problems if the tile is anywhere even close to the crown line of the tree, some like sycamore, willow, and cotton wood will go much further). Good Luck!

 

[TripleR]

Here in SE Missouri, we are 26" over "normal" and have also set a new record. No problems with our house so far thankfully.

 

[Stumpy]

No the footers, gutter drains and the french drain will all have separate plumbing. He did back fill with loose stone over the footers against the house to keep water from sitting against the block though. That oughta be a big help on it's own. In addition he added a slope so water doesn't sit under the deck, it'll head into the swale. The french drain will only be a few feet deep to keep the swale draining. The trick will be keeping the clay that we call soil around here from forming a shell over the drain after a few years. And about the trees. Another part of his job is to dig up a section of the sump crock outlet that's mostly clogged with tree root. My dad and I cleaned it out a few years ago thinking it was something that grew up from the street but the plumber's camera snake showed the pipe had been breached (solid pipe!).

 

[Kubota Newbie]

Don't ya just love owning property!

 

[Stumpy]

Yeah but I don't actually have to spend the money, I just direct where it gets spent. This is my mom's house I'm just inheriting all the problems my dad ignored for the last few years.

 

[birddogger]

I'm worried about when all this wet decides to change into snow. We'll be up to our eyeballs.

 

[Kubota Newbie]

Yeah, if the trend continues we could be in for it. But I did buy a scraper blade for the 'bota at an auction the other day, and I'm adding extra lights to the cab next week so....
What actually worries me more is the possibility of things averaging back out next spring & summer. It's been a good 70 years or more since we've had a serious drought in this part of the country. I'd rather have the excess moisture (at least it's been spread out reasonably well) than what those poor buggers down in Texas and Oklahoma have had this year. At least guys here ended up with good yields on the crops (even if some are stuck waiting for a freeze to finish) and pasture for the cattle.

 

[RDR]

I was happy for the early drought. I was the only one in the area with irrigated sweet corn. After that the 34 days straight of 100+ and no rain got old fast. I did find the 105 day butternut squash is ready in 59 days at those temps. My 89 day corn was ready in 70. Somehow the shallow wells in the area had an increase in water level even with the drought.

I lost a few trees in a line where they were close together. The smaller ones were the ones in trouble first. No great loss. I have gotten tired of flooding an acre to save the others. At least I can.

 

[jem041279]

Weather man posted that here in south Louisiana, we are in a 100 year drought. Our average rain fall for year is 62" and this year we have only received 34.4" and that is with a tropical storm that hit in August.