[QUOTE=AlittleSalt;619832]We had much better success growing in drought years. So far, this year has been wet and hot. It is 80 degrees now and is supposed to rain a couple inches tomorrow.. Last week was the same 88 degrees on Monday and 2" of rain the next day (Valentines day).[/QUOTE]
Same here about it being better growing in a drought year. Better for the tomatoes bring grown in earthboxes. Not better for the local ecosystem and marshes. Took some visiting family members to see alligators at a nearby local marsh and instead of the wetlands that are always there we found this (see picture below).... acres and acres of dry cracked land and no water.

[IMG]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170225/9392c570ce6a511b7cf59c8022aa21d6.jpg[/IMG]

Ginny

[url]http://www.weather.gov/pah/RecordHighEvansville[/url]

[B]All-Time Record High For February and Winter Season Tied in Evansville on February 24, 2017[/B]

We've had one of the coldest, wettest and least sunny winters in 25 years here.
Overnight lows still single digits, daytime highs this week 28-36 deg. F. The frost hasn't gone down into the ground like normal though because of the snow cover.

All in all, a quite favorable weather pattern for growing fruit.

Hail tonight in Edwardsville, IL:

Those could seriously injure people or animals. Lots of dents on car hoods too. I remember in southern Indiana my car getting trashed by hail, up in AK we just get dinky hail.

My family's in northwestern Illinois; they had hail, too, along with a tornado watch. In my part of the Northeast, we had such bad thunderstorms on Saturday that 30,000 of the local utility company's customers lost power. More thunderstorms, and a high of 70 degrees, are possible tomorrow. But Friday might bring snow. It's wild.

Tornado damage near Vergennes, IL, pics are from a friend's facebook page:

from Whittington, IL

Was there a lot of damage?

Here is some helicopter video. There are so many downed trees, it reminds me of a volcanic eruption: [url]http://www.wsiltv.com/story/34644112/aerial-view-tuesdays-storms[/url]

[QUOTE=Fiishergurl;621433]Same here about it being better growing in a drought year. Better for the tomatoes bring grown in earthboxes. Not better for the local ecosystem and marshes. Took some visiting family members to see alligators at a nearby local marsh and instead of the wetlands that are always there we found this (see picture below).... acres and acres of dry cracked land and no water.

[IMG]https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20170225/9392c570ce6a511b7cf59c8022aa21d6.jpg[/IMG]

Ginny[/QUOTE]

Ginny, I have seen and experienced that too. Back in 1982/3, the lake that I had grown up fishing in dried up to a point where you could wade out to the middle of the lake. The lake was built in 1964. I was born in 65. I had basically grown up with the lake.

I don't know how it effected tomato growers - I was 17/18 and more interested in females. But I won't ever forget putting in a trotline in the middle of the lake without a boat.

WOW, Cole. that s terrible. we had a tornado warning, no electricity yesterday and the wind! my oh my until early this morning. I couldn't hardly sleep for the noise of it. I was waiting on more trees to fall all night long. wind and hail and tornadoes are horribly destructive. I am always thankful when we can just pick up and go on without too much distress.

Not to get started on anything but I heard an interview on NPR the other day that was totally disturbing.
At least to me.
It was about the Vikings on Greenland and their demise.
The interviewer said, "Even though they tried to adapt and change the way they did things they still weren't able to make it do to the warming of the climate.
The person being interviewed didn't correct him.
This statement is completely wrong.
The Vikings settled on the Island during a warm period and then towards the end along came the so called mini ice age.
It got colder NOT warmer.
Another statement was made that they didn't know why Erick the red went there.
This is also untrue.
He was kicked out of Iceland for murder and violent behavior.
His father Thorvald Asvaldsson was kicked out of Norway for manslaughter and went to Iceland.
Erick the Reds son Leif Erickson is the person that went to what they called Vinland in North America.

[QUOTE=clkeiper;622718]WOW, Cole. that s terrible. we had a tornado warning, no electricity yesterday and the wind! my oh my until early this morning. I couldn't hardly sleep for the noise of it. I was waiting on more trees to fall all night long. wind and hail and tornadoes are horribly destructive. I am always thankful when we can just pick up and go on without too much distress.[/QUOTE]

I just saw a picture of a trash can lid marked "City of Perryville" that was picked up in Campbell Hill. The former is 30 miles away from the latter, in a different state, and across the Mississippi. People are also finding Missouri license plates in Illinois, blown there from the storm.

It is very windy here today with sustained winds in the 30s and gusting to 45. I looked at Accuweather and to our west and north west there are high wind advisories, watches, and even warnings mostly in and around the rocky mountains. The local weather people got the wind forecast completely wrong.

I'm glad I haven't planted out the tomato plants yet.