Extreme Drought

 Central Louisiana is in an extreme drought.  I live on a little lake, an abandoned gravel pit that the developer built a subdivision around.  Maybe 15 acres, it is a source of recreation for the neighborhood.  A buddy who lives across the lake told me that it is lower than he has ever seen it.

I haven't really looked at the lake in a couple of months, it's been too hot.  This morning I walked around the shop to take a look.

You can see the bow of my little john boat poking through the cattails.  That is normally in a foot of water.  If you look at the center of the photo, you can see a spit of exposed land.  That is normally under about 18 inches of water.  If I had to estimate, I'd say that the lake is down about 3 or 4 feet.  The lake is fed only by rain runoff, and we haven't had any rain for a while.

A quick check with Weather Underground shows that our last measurable rainfall was August 2nd, with only a 10th of an inch.  Before that, it was July 10, with an inch.  The weather weenies are predicting rain for later this week with the first of the winter cool fronts.  It can't come quickly enough.