By Deborah Banish

The thunderstorm that rattled, roared and raged across Rutland and vicinity at about 10:30 on the evening of Wednesday, May 15, dropped .28 of an inch of rain here, according to Paul Anderson’s electronic rain gauge at 309 Gay Street, and .3 of an inch, according to Norbert Kulzer’s gauge at 415 Gay Street. Jesse Brakke reports that his electronic gauge recorded .15 of an inch, but he’s not too sure how accurate that reading was because he hadn’t emptied the spiders and spider webs out of it yet.  Harvey Bergstrom stated that the gauge at his farmstead three miles south of Cayuga only registered .08 of an inch on Thursday morning, and Cam Gulleson reported that .2 of an inch was measured at the Gulleson farmstead 1½ mile east of Rutland. The rain brought planting activities to a halt for a while, but sunshine and wind on Thursday soon had the wheels turning, again.

Saturday morning rain gauge readings after the thunderstorm of Friday, May 17 & Saturday, May 18: Norbert Kulzer at 415 Gay Street, 1.7 inch; Roger Pearson at 309 Gay Street, 1.75 inch; Harvey Bergstrom 3 miles south of Cayuga, 1.45 inch; and, Jim Lunneborg four miles north of Rutland, 1.9 inch.  Norbert figures that his gauge might have had a larger reading on Saturday morning if the rain had arrived vertically, rather than horizontally. Kurt Breker reports that all of the sloughs and potholes that were farmed through last year are now full of water and running together.  “We were wet before this rain,” Kurt stated, “and now we’re too wet.” Spring planting activities are now halted due to wet field conditions, and, with the forecast calling for rain nearly every day, it is doubtful that any wheels will turn prior to Memorial Day. Some of the Assembled Wise Men were reminiscing about “the good old days” when they could plant millet at the beginning of July and still get a cash crop, plus enjoy some good waterfowl hunting shooting ducks and geese off the millet swaths in October. Those were the days!

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