| Place a Classified | Subscribe today | July 10, 2009 |
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Record rain falls
ROCKFORD - Just when fifth-generation farmer Robert Murdock had accepted it was going to be another hot, dry summer, the clouds rolled in and dumped record rain on his fields this week.
The National Weather Service at Pocatello Regional Airport reported 1.45 inches of precipitation Wednesday and another .48 inches as of 2:30 p.m. Thursday for a two-day total of 1.93 inches. That shatters the previous single- and two-day records for the month of June, which had held for 59 years. In fact, Wednesday marked the fourth highest one-day total for any month since meteorologists began keeping data at the airport in 1939. The Pocatello area averages about a foot of precipitation per water year, which begins Oct. 1.
Murdock, 48, and his brother, Brian, farm about 2,200 acres in Rockford, located a few miles west of Blackfoot. Their family has been raising crops in the area for 118 years. ''I'm sure some farmers who have hay cut in their fields aren't happy,'' Murdock said. ''But it was a good thing to have some rain in light of all the water problems. It should help ground water pumpers and the surface water users, as well.''
In Pocatello, residents awoke Thursday to white-capped mountain peaks surrounding the Portneuf Valley. Soda Springs received about three inches of snow in town. Mikah Frahm, Town and Country Gardens nursery manager, said Pocatello gardeners should have nothing to fear from the cooler temperatures associated with the storm. He said it is unlikely frost will damage tomatoes, peppers and other plants, with low temperatures expected to be in the mid-40s tonight.
The Weather Service predicts a warming trend through the weekend, with today's high temperature reaching 69 degrees. Saturday and Sunday are expected to be in the mid-70s. Murdock said the dry spring weather wasn't the only thing threatening crops. Temperatures that reached 80 degrees as early as late April were compounding the problem.
''It was getting hard to keep water on the wheat,'' Murdock said. ''It was getting too hot, too quick.'' Article RatingReader CommentsSubmit a CommentCommenting RulesWe encourage your feedback and dialog. All comments are subject to deletion by our Web staff.
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