Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, August 7, 1993 TAG: 9308070021
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: PAT BROWN STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
But the best news is that the moisture and lower temperatures heralded a change in the weather pattern that will bring more showers, possibly by Tuesday.
The rain gauge at the airport recorded just over half an inch of rain Friday while daytime temperatures hovered in the 60s.
Donato Cacciapaglia of the Roanoke National Weather Station explained that the change in weather occurred because the Bermuda High, which had formed a dome over the middle of the country, had finally split. "It was like opening a gate," Cacciapaglia said. And now the rain clouds that oversaturated the Mississippi can move toward the Mid-Atlantic region.
Even a day of rain "has got to help seasonal crops," Cacciapaglia said. "It was a good, soaking steady rain."
A pattern of intermittent sun and rain can be expected to last at least a couple of weeks. Weather, he explained, "is not like a light switch; it will take two or so weeks before a new pattern develops." An exception to that, he added, would be a tropical storm. If one of those arises, "all bets are off."
Temperatures for the next 90 days are expected to be above normal, Cacciapaglia said, and precipitation is expected to be about normal.
"All of my employees were in a better mood," said Ric Moore of Green Up Lawns and Landscapes in Salem. He said dry lawns had slowed business for the past l0 days.
Had he found it necessary to lay off any workers? "If it hadn't rained by next week it probably would have come to that," he said. The half dozen men he usually has mowing commerical lawns had spent most of the last two weeks "doing odd jobs." On Friday he said they were "happy because they know they'll be mowing on Monday."
Moore said weeds usually endure dry weather and heat better than lawns, but lately, "even the clover was beginning to look bad."
Barbara Leach, a horticulture technician with the Virginia Extension Service, said rains like Friday's would definitely help ornamental plants. In the past two weeks she has received numerous calls about shriveling dogwood leaves. Dry, hot weather stresses plants and can even cause leaf tissues to die.
"It's like sunburn," she explained. Even though homeowners see no improvement in leaves, she said, they should not give up on their ornamental trees.
"In a few days they may be some greener," she said, but more important will be the improvement to underground conditions. The fall is a busy growing time for tree root networks, she explained. A well-nourished tree, she said, "will have a much better chance of making it through the winter."
On the Roanoke City Market, shoppers were busy selecting peaches and corn. Charles Lavinder was selling produce from his farm at Twelve O'Clock Knob. He said the rain was just what the area needed.
"It's good for the grass and the pasture and the fruit, too. It cleans the air, and it sure does make you feel better."
Jason Beheler, who helps farm the 20-acre Martin Plant Farm in Roanoke County said he thought shoppers at the market were enjoying the rain. "It's been busy," he said, "probably because it's cooled off." He said cucumbers and corn were among the produce that had been most stressed by the hot, dry weather.
Caroline Guthrie said her father had accumulated irrigation equipment over the 50 years he's been farming in Franklin County. "The rain is really welcome," she said. "If we hadn't irrigated we would not have this produce."
One benefit of the dry weather has been the taste of the fruit, Guthrie said: "It's sweeter."
by CNB