Isn't May near Houston? And Lars is in California but his family is there somewhere. Sally said Bishop County had wildfires on another thread, but I have no idea where Bishop County is in relation to anywhere else, Texas is a big darned state.

Elery was getting soaked in Southern Michigan too, although I didn't get very much here. We were talking about how nice it would be if we could just direct the rains where they were most likely to be beneficial. Sigh.

I know the news has said that the drought in Texas is going to have an impact that will be felt for years, possibly decades.

Annie

Yes, Annie, May is in Houston, so should be fine.
The worst fires are in Bastrop County, which is in central Texas, not very far from Austin. I think Trixie is in west Texas. I know that's very dry now, as is north Texas. It's been over 100 degrees every day for a long time.

My niece is packed and ready to evacuate (according to DB), but I think she is far enough from Bastrop to be okay. She uses the name adnama here. I'm sure she can see the smoke from where she is, however.

Lars

I hope your niece is safe, Lars, and that her house is spared. Are your parents anywhere near the fires?

Hi y'all. Yes, I'm in Houston and thank goodness, ok. But the fires are terrible. Karen is right, the worst of it is in Bastrop which is just southeast of Austin. But the destruction is going on statewide. There are fires just north of Houston (in our same county!) so no telling what will happen next.

I've linked to a fire map below so you can see the fires just north of Houston and all those fires west of Houston which includes Bastrop.

We got some cool weather yesterday and today which is a relief but the trouble is that the cool front just brought winds and no rain which made everything worse instead of better.

We did get a tiny bit of rain early last week but it had been so long since we'd seen it before, we weren't even sure what it was!

We need rain. Desperately. But we have to temper that wish because if we get too much all at once (which is almost sure to happen) it will only cause flooding since the ground is so dry.

Doesn't it always seem like it's flooding in one place and bone dry in another? It's weird, isn't it?

Here is a link that might be useful: fire map

Yes. Lars. I was worried about your family, too. I had actually said Bastrop county, which is east of Austin. Texas has so many counties, though, it wouldn't surprise me if there is a Bishop county, and if so, it's probably on fire, too, lol!

Where's Dukerdawg? (I don't think I'm spelling his name correctly) Doesn't he live in Texas? I don't know where, though.

Sadly, they said last night on the news that they think some of the fires in Texas were set intentionally. If so, I hope they catch whoever did it.

Sally

Friends are telling me that Tomball, near Houston, is on standby for evacuation. That is darned close to Houston. I hope they can get these fires under control. I was in Houston a few weeks ago and everything is brown. All the beautiful trees that were planted along the the highway, towards the aiport, are all dead. I was so hoping that TS Lee would hit where we live so SE Texas could get some much needed rain.

May, that fire map is amazing. I didn't realize there were fires in some of those places. National news coverage has been, shall we say, inadequate!
I read that, since January, fires in Texas have burned six and a half million acres, an area the size of Connecticut.

I'm linking to an incredible picture of downtown Austin with a backdrop of huge clouds of smoke. Yesterday the Bastrop fire was 16 miles long. Could be worse now. People are losing everything.

Here is a link that might be useful: {{gwi:1453351}}

My niece is east of Austin, but further north than Bastrop, and so I hope the fire does not go that direction. There are also fires fairly close to my parents, but they are in the next county to the west, where Fort Hood is located and where there is a lot of cedar and live oak. My parents' land is mostly farm land (or pastures - trees were cleared a long time ago), but the house is surrounded by very old pecan trees, and there is a large pecan orchard across the road from their house.

There may not be enough volunteer fire departments to handle everything if the fires get worse. It will take 100 years for some of the forests in east Texas to recover, I think.

Lars

Lars, I hope your family will be OK. The fires are awful all over. There is one burning in CA caused by a fatal airplane crash that has take homes also, according to CNN this morning.

We have a daughter in Houston & another in Austin. The are both in urban areas & fine. We hear daily reports from them about the seriousness of the lack of rain though. Liz says Houston needs 12"to 15" of rain in a month to make a dent in the situation.

We lost our power again for 10 hours last night/this morning & had a voicemail from Sarah saying she can see the smoke.

It's raining here again & we have a Flash Flood advisory but don't really think there will be flooding. Wish we could send the rain to Texas & Oklahoma.

tricia

Sally, Duane (dukerdawg) is in Detroit, he's a long way from Texas and the fires.

I think Texas is so dry it's going to take months or years to get the groundwater levels back and catch up.

And if those fires were intentionally started, I hope lots of bad things happen to those responsible.

Lars, I hope your whole family, including Amanda, stays safe and out of danger.

Sally, that would explain probably, why I looked for Bishop County and couldn't find it! Bastrop county....

Annie

Okay, I guess I had duane mixed up with someone else. I should look at the CF map.

The fires are still mostly out of control, but not spreading nearly as fast today, due to the winds calming down. Hopefully, they'll be able to get a handle on them today.

I swear I smell smoke sometimes when I go outside, and I live about 3 to 4 hours away from where the biggest fires are.

Sally

Sally, yesterday some people said they smelled smoke in Corpus Christi, and the fire map doesn't show anything anywhere near there, so I bet you did smell it!

I agree, you probably did smell it, and I see on the internet news that there is hope that they will soon be under control, if the weather will just hold out.

Annie

It's just awful and I hate to think of the air quality in the areas surrounding the fires. I fear that asthma and other respiratory illnesses will soar in the aftermath!

Sending positive thoughts and prayers that these fires are contained soon!