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Death Valley Days

Tap

Well-known member
We had another hot day here yesterday too. It is supposed to be around 100 to 105 the next several days also. Yesterday we were sorting and moving cattle real early to beat the heat, but then we had to help do a few things on some pipelines we are putting in. About 3:00 a fair sized lightning storm came thru, with just a little rain with it. From a highpoint on our ranch we could see smoke over in the general direction of some of our land, so we headed out. As we got closer the lightning kept popping and there were getting to be lots of "smokes". I got to one fire that was on our land and the rain and I put it out about the same time. There was just enough rain to slow down 8 other fires that were in the very near vacinity. We spent the next 7 hours on the fires running to a flare up now and then.

With quite a bit of summer left, this could get old. :roll:
 

Liberty Belle

Well-known member
Tap, Larry N., Linda G., and I were on our way home from Pierre when Sandra called Larry to let him know about the fires. Linda put the "pedal to the medal", but slowed down when the rain shower moved across the highway before we hit Meadow. Sounded like most of the fires were out, but this is REALLY getting old, isn't it?

We got .29" of rain here so we slept good for a change. Did you get enough rain to measure?
 

Tap

Well-known member
We had .22 hundredths the other night here LB, but hardly anything south of here, on our ranch anyway. It is long gone moisture now.

These are our current conditions. :mad:

Last Update on Jul 28, 2:56 pm MDT


NA

107°F
(42°C) Humidity: 10 %
Wind Speed: S 13 G 24 MPH
Barometer: 29.71" (1002.2 mb)
Dewpoint: 39°F (4°C)
 

Faster horses

Well-known member
Well, Tap, I know just how you feel.
I don't know if our place is better or worse:

98 degrees
25mph wind, gusting to 32
23% humidity
Dewpoint 54 degrees
Barometer 29.78

:mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:
 

Turkey Track Bar

Well-known member
Tap...

How did you guys fare tonight with the lightning? I hope better than us...tough night here. :cry: :cry: :cry:

The good news is that if this crap keeps up, we won't have to worry about fire!!!

I hope everyone is safe.

Cheers---

TTB :wink:
 

Tap

Well-known member
TTB,

I assume you mean everything will be burned up if you have more fires?

The same cloud you had built up about 20 miles from here. We watched it, but it rained just a tiny bit (N. of here) , and had very little lightning in it till it went past us.

Just read this story if you want to see how fast a fire can grow in size:

Winters Fire goes supernova



Friday, July 28, 2006 5:56 PM PDT



ELKO — The Winters Fire, which is threatening the town of Midas, has grown from 19,000 acres to 106,224 acres in 24 hours.

The fire is five miles north of Midas and 20 miles west-northwest of Tuscarora although the towns are not under immediate threat at this time.

Lightning started the fire Tuesday.

The fire started in a Wilderness Study Area in the Snowstorm Mountains and has moved to the east over the past two days.

If conditions permit, firefighters will perform a burnout north of Midas today to secure the heel of the fire at that point. This fire is on the BLM Elko District, but is being dispatched by the Central Nevada Interagency Dispatch Center in Winnemucca and being managed by the Winnemucca Field Office.
 

Tap

Well-known member
We officially made it to 109 yesterday. Today and tomorrow could be hotter.

Yuck! I better get to work while it's still comfortable.
 

Turkey Track Bar

Well-known member
Tap said:
TTB,

I assume you mean everything will be burned up if you have more fires?

The same cloud you had built up about 20 miles from here. We watched it, but it rained just a tiny bit (N. of here) , and had very little lightning in it till it went past us..

Tap, I am glad you had very few fires.

I wish we could say the same. I think last night we lost around 5 sections of grass (I sure hope I'm over estimating, but when we were looking for cattle last night I think this is what Lazy Ace told me)...the little carryover we had left after the last two fires, plus all the rest of our grass, with the exception of about a section of winter grazing/calving pasture. :cry: :cry: :cry: Our neighbors to the east and west lost quite of bit of crop and/or pasture too.

We are thankful that Lazy Ace and his Dad and our neighbors were able to either keep the cattle on black or else push them away from fire, and to my knowledge we didn't lose a single one. Amazing when we went looking for them last night after the fire was mostly put out.

There were many, many, many big fires around here last night. Our fire came within a 1/2 mile of our houses, and less than that of our closest neighbor of the west. Thank God the firefighters and neighbors finally got it stopped before it got into the little valley their house is in. It was so close and moving so fast that I got everything out of the house that I thought was "important" minus my Grandma's china and cedar chest.

I hope and pray that everyone else who dealt with fire last night is safe, and all of their livestock are safe too.

I tell ya, I'm a tough ol' bird, but this is getting trying.

And, yes, my comment about soon we won't have fire, was because there isn't much left to burn!!!

Cheers for a better day---

TTB :wink:
 

Liberty Belle

Well-known member
Our temp reached 111 degrees yesterday and there were another couple big fires over east of us between where we are and where TTB lives. Haven't heard damage reports yet. Most of our regulars are sitting on a fire in the Slim Buttes that broke out again day before yesterday. I think that's when that one started - hard to keep track of my days anymore.
 

nr

Well-known member
Prayers from us also and hope you can get some good sleeping weather soon. We drove home in an electrical storm yesterday with a hard rain. I can't imagine riding out on tinder dry plains and putting out fires with lightening over head. :cry: Stay safe, you hear? :(
 

Hanta Yo

Well-known member
TTB, our hearts out to yours. :cry: :cry: We've been lucky but we're not even in August yet when we get most our fires. Lord help us if we get one here...

Neighbors needed a brand inspection for their cattle, all their grass burned up in the Bundy/ Railroad Cr fire so they had to ship theirs off to grass somewhere else.

Our prayers are with you, the smoke smell doesn't go away for awhile but it eventually wears off.

Maybe put some lemon juice in your wash? It helps with skunk smell somewhat.
 

Turkey Track Bar

Well-known member
Thanks everyone for your thoughts. We all appreciate it. They sure make a crappy, tough day better!

Yes, Hanta Yo, our fire season isn't usually until September, but not this year, we started early. I just keep thinking (which is quite scary!) if we can get some decent rain, we'll have the greenest ranch in South Dakota! I sure hope that we either get rain or early snow as there have been about 15,000 acres burn close to us, with about 6,000 acres directly adjoining us. Without that rain and early snow, and with our predominantly Northwestern winter wind, the grounds is going to blow horribly :mad: :cry: :mad: :cry:

Again, thanks. I hope you all have a great evening.

Cheers---

TTB :wink:
 

Soapweed

Well-known member
Sorry to hear of all the grass that has burned in your area, Turkey Track Bar and Lazy Ace. Ranching is hard enough at best, but it can sure get really tough when things fall apart. Our hearts and prayers go out to you.
 

Turkey Track Bar

Well-known member
Soapweed said:
Sorry to hear of all the grass that has burned in your area, Turkey Track Bar and Lazy Ace. Ranching is hard enough at best, but it can sure get really tough when things fall apart. Our hearts and prayers go out to you.

Thank you Soapweed, and the same to your family too. We appreciate it. We are reminded daily that we are truely blessed with great friends and neighbors, and for that we are beyond thankful.

Cheers---

TTB :wink:
 

Red Robin

Well-known member
I thought this thread was about a festival or something. I hadn't read it. Sorry about the damage to the grazing. We'll be praying for you and hoping for fall rains to turn the deal into something better. Glad no one was hurt.
 
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