It took nearly all summer. . .

but finally somebody riding down the elevator with me looked over and said what inevitably is always said; "Well, we sure need the rain".

What?

Precipitation map for Wyoming.  Much of the state is 125% above normal so far this year, and now we're into August.  And if the entire state is considered almost 100%, save for some high country in Fremont County, is above, some way above, average.  One area in Fremont County is 200% above normal.

This has been the rainiest and coldest summer of my life.  Nothing compares to it.  Not even close.

I know that statistically this is one of the hottest summers on record.  But global records do not neatly tie into local ones.  This summer here has been darned near non existent, and wet.

Hot weather. . . and it is summer after all, only arrived here a couple of weeks ago.  But the rain arrived in the Spring and it hasn't let up.  It rains nearly every day.  A person who made the mistake of taking the top off of his Jeep a couple of weeks ago, when the warm weather finally arrived, would know this.  Nearly every afternoon it clouds up and it really dumps.

I don't mean the 1 minute storm that's typical for this region in the summer.  I mean torrential rain.  And not just afternoon rain either.  Rain that sets in and pours in the afternoon and then comes back all night.

The grass is still green here, in August.  It should be brown by June.

Given that, people must have held off their comments a little, but that they would occur was obvious about a month ago when people started saying "it sure has been hot".

No, it hasn't.

So the "we sure need the rain" comment was coming.

Now, keep in mind that a person who drives a convertible some days, and a bike on others, is going to be in tune with the weather, particularly bad weather.  And a person who has cattle and has to buy grass if there isn't any will be as well.  Let alone somebody who leases farm grown from which hay is cut.

So, the elevator conversation went like this.

A:  "Have you seen outside, looks like it might get wet".

Me:  Groan. . ."I have, more rain"

A:  "Yes, well I'm glad to see it!"

Me:  "I'm not, I'm sick of the rain".

A:  Surprised. . . "Well we sure need the moisture".

Me:  "No we don't, it's been raining constantly".

A:  "Well. . everything is burning up"

Me:  "Everything is still green".

Now, granted, this is probably not what an innocent elevator rider should expect, but then a person ought to be at least a little observant on the actual environment.

But we aren't.  We turn on the heat in the fall because its the fall, even if its still 50F outside and the radiant heat of the building is in the 70s.  And then we turn on the air conditioning in the Spring because its Spring even if its dipping down into the 30s.

So, it's late July, and therefore it must be dry, right?

Nope. 

It's wet and cold.

Temperature map for Wyoming for the current year.  Most of Wyoming is 3 to 4 degrees below normal in temperature this year.  A small block of the Snowy Range and some other areas here and there are 1 to 2 degrees above normal, but then an equally large area is more than 5 degrees below normal.  It's cold.