Vacationers, farmers, residents all washed up
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Lifeguards at the Barre pool watch the rain fall from the shelter of the bathhouse Thursday afternoon. Though open, no swimmers were at the pool, and evening swim lessons were later cancelled. From left are Andrew Woodhams, Timothy Burke, Olivia Badeau and Nick Peloquin. JEB WALLACE-BRODEUR/TIMES ARGUS |
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By Louis Porter Vermont Press Bureau - Published: July 3, 2009
MONTPELIER – Sorry, but you're going to need a few more witty quips about arks, ducks and webfeet in your arsenal to get through the next few days.
The National Weather Service warned of possible flash floods Thursday as yet another day of rain and clouds covered the state with more scheduled to come. The meteorological agency's office in Burlington said June was well short of the record for rain, but still above normal by about a third.
Yet, in the typically spotty summer weather some parts of the state have not seen more rain than normal, Worcester Meteorologists Roger Hill said this week. Burlington received about 5.25 inches of rain in June, a little less than two inches more than normal, but Montpelier was barely above the ordinary and portions of the state farther from the Green Mountains reported normal rainfall, Hill said.
"There have been areas in the state that have not seen a tremendous amount of rain," he said.
But that doesn't mean that Vermonters' feeling that they are living in the Pacific Northwest are misplaced.
There was rain and clouds for nearly 43 percent of the days in June in Montpelier. In Morrisville nearly 60 percent of the days did.
"People are not dreaming when they are thinking it has been just gray sky after gray sky day," Hill said. "It is not the most pleasant conditions for folks who have gone camping."
And it is not just vacationers who are having their plans threatened. Farmers are growing increasingly nervous that this summer will be a sequel to last year's.
"It's pretty bad," Jackie Folsom of the Vermont Farm Bureau said. "It is almost looking like last year, which is a little scary."
Given the status of milk prices it is especially important for farmers to be able to plant and harvest corn and hay, which takes several drying days.
"Farmers are under the gun trying to pay for feed," Folsom said.
That worries Kelly Loftus of the Vermont Agency of Agriculture as well.
"A rainy June could be the final straw for another farm closing," she said.
In fact the number of dairies in the state has declined because of economic reasons. About 43 dairy farms have gone out of business since January. The number of such farms has dropped from 1121 in 2008 to 1046 now, Loftus said.
"People are having trouble paying their bills right now and any impact could put a farm out of business," she said.
She and some other farm agency officials took a tour of the middle portion of the state this week and found that things are somewhat better in the Connecticut River Valley than to the West, Loftus said.
It is not just dairy farmers who have seen a hit from the rain, either. Pick-your-own strawberry field owners have told her than although they are getting good fruit they are not getting the customers because of the rain, Loftus said.
"They have excellent fruit but because of the wet weather it is keeping people from coming out," she said.
And a vegetable farmer in the southern portion of the state also reported that his crops were slow to grow and mature.
Arne McMullen, director of recreation for Montpelier, said use of the city's pool and some other facilities are off as well.
"Things are certainly slower than they normally would be," he said. "The tennis courts you can't even play on because they get too slippery."
"This is an unusual spell for us to go through with so much rain in a short period of time," he said. "We need some sun shine."
There is hope, meteorologist Hill said.
The state of the Arctic Oscillation, a pattern of pressure variations around the North Pole, has resulted in a weaker low pressure area in the Arctic than normally expected at this time of year. That, in turn, means that colder air is spreading farther South than normal – and in effect Vermont is getting a weather pattern it more typically experiences in the Winter, Hill said.
"We are still getting this sort of winter-like phenomena," he said.
But that could change by the middle of the month, although in weather there are no guarantees, Hill said.
In the meantime Vermonters should prepare for more gray skies and continue to be careful about thunderstorms, Hill said.
"We might actually have a dry Sunday," he added. "Wow."
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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