Rain, rain go away, come again — later in May.
The farmers want to plant. The baseball players would like to compete. And most of us would just like to
see the sun.
As of Friday, it had rained nine straight days in Wood County.
The record for rainfall in April is well over 7 inches, according to Ryan Wichman, meteorologist with
WTOL-TV in Toledo. Bowling Green received 5.12 inches in April, he added.
“April showers are not unusual, but the consistency is,” Wichman said. “More than half the days of April,
it rained, giving us no chance to dry out.”
Wichman expects the weather to start breaking this weekend, but that doesn’t mean the rain is done.
“Of course, there will be showers, even potential severe weather next week if systems align just right,
but the widespread clouds, cool lake breeze and rain will not continue in the extreme fashion,” he said.
The Maumee and Portage rivers have so far stayed within their banks.
Jeff Klein, director of the Wood County Emergency Management Agency, said they are expecting more
flooding.
“The concern is what we’re going to be getting downstream,” he said.
Even with more rain forecasted, it’s hard to predict what may happen, Klein said.
“The unfortunate reality, when you start involving ditches and drainage systems, it’s how well they’ve
been maintained,” he said.
There is standing water in the flood-plain areas, “that’s what they’re designed for.”
Last week there was some roads under water, but it cleared up quickly, Klein said.
Area farmers are at least a couple of weeks behind their normal planting schedule, according to Alan
Sundermeier, OSU Extension agent.
There is still time for them to get the crops planted and, depending on how other factors come into play
for the rest of the growing season, a bumper crop is still possible, he said.
“They can plant most of the the corn within seven days once the fields dry out,” Sundermeier said. “With
the modern equipment it does not take long to get the corn in the ground. Last year many fields were not
planted until Memorial Day and the crops did fine.”
He explained that the new hybrids of corn crop can tolerate later planting and still perform well,
depending on other conditions.
For crop insurance purposes, June 6 is usually a cut-off or significant date for growers.
Sundermeier said soybeans are regularly planted in June. Since they need less time to mature, soybeans
are not an issue at this point.
He said the fall weather did wipe out much of the winter wheat that had been planted last fall and all
this water is not ideal for what remains.
“There was some significant loss of wheat acres,” Sundermeier said.
The biggest issue for wheat fields now is getting the necessary nitrogen applied for the wheat, he said.
“Many are switching to aerial application of nitrogen. There may have been some loss because of flooding,
but for the crop it is important at this point to get the needed nitrogen so that some fields can be
saved,” he said.
Some of the area’s infamous wind would help, Sundermeier said.
“We need ‘Blowing Green’ to get more blowing. It’s not blowing enough like we are used to. We need
sunshine, wind and 80 degree temperatures to get the surface water moving down to the drainage tile.”
He estimated farmers could possibly get into the fields within 10 days of the last significant rainfall.
“I am not worried yet, there is still time,” Sundermeier said.
The clock is also ticking on high school spring sports.
Including baseball and softball, there are 14 local high school teams competing this season.
Those teams have combined for just one game played this week due to the weather.
“The issue we’ve got now, when you’ve had eight straight days of rain, there’s no place for water to go,”
Eastwood athletic director Jeff Hill said. “You’re kind of helpless. We have to get a stretch of weather
where it doesn’t rain.
“Other than putting 8,000 pounds of gasoline on your field and lighting it on fire — which I remember the
old days when I played we did that a couple times — we’re not going there.”
Many area teams have failed to play since the middle of last week due to rain falling at seemingly any
hour of every day.
The majority of games are working to be rescheduled later in the season, sometimes even following
tournament play. But as cancellations pile up, make-up games become tougher to schedule.
“The bad thing is, we haven’t even started the second half of our conference season yet. We’re sitting on
hold,” Hill said.
“We can play 27 games, that’s the max we can play in our season. You get to a point where you feel bad
for your seniors; they’re not going to get 27 games in this year.”
As a result, teams are forced to play a professional-like schedule with games nearly every day and
doubleheaders on Saturday.
“It’s tough, the kids go from not playing for eight days to now playing eight days straight,” Hill said.
“It’s almost like starting all over again. Beginning of the season we were in the gym for three weeks
before we got outside. It’s kind of like that again.”
The change in schedule is not particularly tough for softball, but baseball has pitch-count limitations
that stretch from game to game. Some pitchers may be forced off the mound for three games due to Ohio
High School Athletic Association restrictions and crowded schedules.
“You go into the season, I’ve been in this long enough, after 38 years it’s like it’s going to be what
it’s going to be,” Hill said. “The hardest part is things are going to happen that are beyond your
control. We’ll just roll with the punches, everybody’s in the same boat.”
A boat would be handy to navigate Simpson Garden Park in Bowling Green. The park, which is usually
blooming with daffodils and other spring plantings, is mostly under water.
Chris Gajewicz, natural resources coordinator for Bowling Green Parks and Recreation, said there are
Black Swamp-like conditions in much of the park.
“There is water everywhere,” he said.
The park remains open but Gajewicz said visitors should wear appropriate footwear.
There is a highlight to the rainy weather — it’s a great time for bird watching.
“There are Canada geese everywhere,” he said.
Mallard ducks have also found the water welcoming.
“This is the best time to come out for birders. We are part of the bird loop so a lot of people are out
documenting the birds here,” Gajewicz said. “Looking out my window right now I see a warbler. These are
great weeks for birds.”
