No review of 2007 could go without mention of the extreme weather Raleigh experienced this year. It was an extremely dry year thanks to a Bermuda high pressure system that baked and dried Raleigh out. This year’s heat set a record with the most days with temperatures above 90 degrees F. November was Raleigh’s driest November on record, and August was Raleigh’s hottest month ever recorded.
The extreme weather altered out habits significantly. Though I watered the lawn regularly earlier this summer (within the watering limits), I eventually gave up on this once the drought got serious. Now I see how selfish I was with the lawn. It now seems so stupid to have wasted all that water on grass. I’ve been pondering a more prudent approach to our landscaping, including lots more shady trees and less grass (or at least hardier grass), and will put those into effect this year.
I celebrated every rainfall as a gift, and made use of it by purchasing a tank to capture rainwater. Capturing rainwater soon became an obsesison of mine! While my neighbors are dependent on whatever falls from the sky, I have hundreds of gallons to use for watering plants, washing cars, and flushing toilets. You don’t realize how much water gets flushed away until you’ve tried filling the tanks yourself.
Today’s the day I reset my weather station’s statistics for the new year. We got 3.4 inches of rain last week: an substantial amount which brings this year’s total up near the amounts I recorded for 2005 and 2006. Thus, on paper 2007 won’t seem as dry as it really was, even though Falls Lake remains about ten feet below normal.
Here’s hoping 2008 gives us much better weather.