Extreme Weather

This has been the week when summer really hits and it has led to many extreme weather events.  Three weeks ago it started with all the rain that lasted on and off for 2 weeks, totaling almost 4 inches of rain in 2.5 weeks.  Then the extreme heat rolled in with highs of 106, 108 and 107.  This lead to many changes in the atmosphere causing several evening and morning lightning shows.  A few heat lightning incidences in the evening, some have been paired with a wall of storm clouds that have dumped extreme rain in 20 minutes.

A storm cloud over downtown Lewiston

Clouds moving towards the golf course

Flash floods downtown Lewiston had the streets covered in 1-2 ft of water in 20 minutes, a morning lightening storm forced me to hold staff off the golf course for 1 hour and delay tee times for 45 minutes on Tuesday morning.  All the moisture paired with the extreme heat has caused the heat index to climb to dangerous levels.  I have sent staff home at noon, a 7 hour shift, for 2 days because of the dangerous heat index while working outside. Please be careful if you are outside.

The tough part on the turf is the evening and nighttime temperatures.  Last night I was out on the golf course at 8 PM and it was still 98 degrees.  A couple mornings have been 82 degrees with high humidity at 5 AM.

A couple positive aspects is that our pool has been overflowing with people and the golf course has held up very well. The course is playing very good, greens do not have a single stress mark nor a disease spot on them, and they are rolling very good.  Fortunately the long range forecast has the high temperature between 94-100 for the next 15 days so we should get back to a more normal summer.

Get your tee time early and I will see you guys out on the golf course.