Finally Got a Little Rain!
By Jeff Moffitt
@moffittjc (128906)
Gainesville, Florida
May 9, 2026 10:44am CST
Here in north Florida, we have been in an extreme drought for months, and the government is estimating that we are about 30 inches below normal in rainfall. Basically, a significant amount. We did get a good day of rain last Saturday, but not nearly what we need. But every little bit helps.
Last night, we got a good torrential downpour, although it only lasted about 20 minutes, But again, we'll take any rain we can get at this point!
The air quality in my area has been horrible for the past 2 weeks. Smoke from multiple wildfires burning in every direction has settled over us like a thick fog. It's been hard to breathe any time stepping outside. So, in addition to the beneficial water we desperately need, the rain also helped knock down the amount of smoke in the area. When I got up this morning and stepped outside briefly, I could tell the air was a little less smoky than before. Not great, but not bad either.
Before I stepped back into the house, I looked over and noticed my neighbor had some beautiful roses blooming in her yard, so I went over and took a picture.
Despite the extreme drought, nature still finds a way to showcase its beauty!
I hope everyone has a great weekend! What are you all up to today?
17 people like this
17 responses
@MarieCoyle (59697)
•
9 May
I am glad to hear you did get a bit of rain, and I hope you get some more soon. We were down in the extreme draught level for a long, long time until the last few weeks, when we finally got rain. This week it rained every day, and things are sort of soggy, but that's OK. We will soon have roasting hot days to dry it all up, I'm sure.
So glad you appreciate nature's beauty and enjoyed the roses. 
3 people like this
@moffittjc (128906)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 May
We had roasting hot days leading up to this weekend, with temps in the mid-90s. Thankfully, the humidity wasn't present due to the drought, which would have made it feel like 200 degrees outside. But now that we're getting a bunch of rain today, I'm worried that the next few days will be super hot and super muggy. Yuck! But I shouldn't complain, we really, really need the rain.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (128906)
• Gainesville, Florida
11 May
@MarieCoyle It looks like we’re going to get some rain this week. I’m excited! Lol
1 person likes this
@MarieCoyle (59697)
•
11 May
@moffittjc
I talked to my Florida daughter both Friday and today for Mother's Day. She wasn't happy with the extreme heat, but it's Florida...and she knows that there will be a lot more hot days. And if you need the rain, I hope you get some more. No one likes those wildfires.
1 person likes this
@Juliaacv (56417)
• Canada
9 May
Those are lovely roses.
Roses always look so great with little water droplets on them.
Today has been a great day for me.
I got groceries, did some shopping with my hubs, am going for a walk with a friend in an hour, and then our son is dropping the girls off here so that he can take his wife out for a special meal together.
3 people like this
@Juliaacv (56417)
• Canada
9 May
@moffittjc Thanks, took a nice long walk with a friend, and have chicken & beef shish kabobs cooking now for supper. Our son is feeding the babies before they arrive, but I would appreciate it if they at least try the kabobs. I mean, who doesn't like food on a stick?
2 people like this
@moffittjc (128906)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 May
It sounds like you have a full and complete and satisfying day planned today! Enjoy your time with the girls!
2 people like this
@moffittjc (128906)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 May
@Juliaacv I, for one, love food on a stick. Any food. Any stick. LOL
2 people like this
@wolfgirl569 (136402)
• Marion, Ohio
9 May
Hope you keep getting rain. Those are lovely
2 people like this
@moffittjc (128906)
• Gainesville, Florida
10 May
I am one of those weird people that love rain, and the more of the better, in my opinion. So it's been driving me crazy that we have been in a drought these past couple of months. Bring on more rain!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128906)
• Gainesville, Florida
10 May
@sallypup I'm glad to hear you're getting a little sun out there!
2 people like this
@moffittjc (128906)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 May
Despite the lack of rain in your part of the world, is it still dark and cloudy and dreary like everyone makes that area out to be?
3 people like this
@sallypup (69294)
• Centralia, Washington
9 May
@moffittjc Many times we have a cloudy morning and sunnier afternoon.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (128906)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 May
I did try to smell them, and the scent was very faint. I could only smell the scent when I got up really close to the flowers.
It seems like over time they have genetically modified roses so they look fantastic, but sacrificed the scent along the way. I remember reading something similar about tomatoes. They focused so much on genetically modifying them to be big, beautiful and bright orange, that along the way they lost a lot of their taste.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (128906)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 May
@TheHorse I just assume everything these days has been genetically modified in one way or another. I mean, have you seen the roses you buy at the florist? There's no way they grow like that in the wild.
1 person likes this
@TheHorse (238555)
• Walnut Creek, California
9 May
@moffittjc Interesting stuff. My roses thing was just a hypothsis.I had not read about the tomatoes. Makes sense.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (128906)
• Gainesville, Florida
10 May
@Jehanne I should have suspected the Philippines, because it’s not quite summer yet in the northern hemisphere.
1 person likes this
@AmbiePam (121617)
• United States
9 May
That’s a gorgeous picture! Our area got some much needed rain last night, and we had been properly drenched. An hour after it was all soaked, the electricity went out. I always associate power going out during the immediate storm, but somehow that didn’t happen this time. I didn’t stick around to bake without an air conditioner or fans and went to my dad’s instead.
OKC did need the rain. My area and other areas had been getting really bad storms, but OKC itself was still under a drought. I’m glad it’s easier for you to breathe outside, at least a little bit.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (128906)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 May
We've been getting spotty thunderstorms on and off today, and I can tell you the air smells so much fresher! It's nice to not have to breathe smoke all the time!
2 people like this
@allen0187 (59903)
• Philippines
10 May
Listening to some music and doing some myLotting.
Send some of that rain here in Manila please.
1 person likes this
@allen0187 (59903)
• Philippines
11 May
@moffittjc it is summer right now so we are literally cooking here under the sun.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128906)
• Gainesville, Florida
12 May
@allen0187 We’re quickly heading in that same direction here in the southeastern US. In about another 2 weeks, our temperatures will soar, and we’ll be baking for the next 4-5 months.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128906)
• Gainesville, Florida
10 May
Nothing better than enjoying some music while myLotting!
No rain in Manila? Are you in a drought like we are/
1 person likes this
@FourWalls (87162)
• United States
9 May
I’m having lunch and maybe going for a walk. I watched the rain come in on one of the St. Augustine live cams (the one that shows the Fort). People running and other people popping open their umbrellas as if to say “Don’t y’all ever look at the weather forecast?”
2 people like this
@moffittjc (128906)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 May
That's funny, because I think the same thing all the time. People pay no attention to weather forecasts, and then act all surprised and upset when they get caught in a rainshower.
2 people like this
@BACONSTRIPSXXX (18240)
• Torrington, Connecticut
2 Jun
It’s interesting how even small changes in weather can make such a noticeable difference in conditions like that.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128906)
• Gainesville, Florida
2 Jun
That’s one of the reasons I appreciate nature so much!
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128906)
• Gainesville, Florida
12 May
@JudyEv Speaking of, have you had any bad fires in your area lately?
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128906)
• Gainesville, Florida
10 May
It rained all night long, and I was perfectly happy and content with that! It's still very cloudy this morning, so I'm hoping it rains again today, but on the plus side I don't smell any smoke right now, so hopefully all that rain last night helped dampen all the wildfires burning around us.
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (383152)
• Rockingham, Australia
11 May
@moffittjc We're all grateful when we get rain on one of our wildfires.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (223364)
• United States
10 May
Lovely roses. I'm glad you got some rain. I hope you get a lot more. Nothing going on here.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128906)
• Gainesville, Florida
10 May
It stormed most of the night, so hopefully it gave us a good drenching. We have 12 active wildfires all around our city, and we have been getting choked by the smoke, because no matter which way the wind blows it just brings more smoke into our area.
It's really cloudy out this morning, so I'm hoping we get some more rain today, but on the bright side I don't smell any smoke right now.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128906)
• Gainesville, Florida
12 May
@LindaOHio We got a good dose of strong thunderstorms overnight. It rained hard enough that it woke me up in the middle of the night. I’m sure it helped with the fires, but I noticed we still had smoky conditions as I was going to work this morning, so we’re not out of the woods just yet.
1 person likes this
@LindaOHio (223364)
• United States
11 May
@moffittjc I hope it rains enough to put out some of those fires.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128906)
• Gainesville, Florida
10 May
Oh, no doubt about that. It's either feast or famine. Probably in about 4-5 months I'll write a discussion complaining about some relentless flooding we are having. They do say that this strong El Nino that is developing is going to give us a wetter summer than normal, so I wouldn't be surprised at all if we have to deal with flooding later on.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128906)
• Gainesville, Florida
12 May
@porwest We have very porous, sandy soil here in north Florida, so it doesn’t really harden. But because it’s so porous, any rain we get soaks immediately into the ground. That’s one of the reasons it’s so important that we have a continuous, uninterrupted flow of rain throughout the year.
1 person likes this
@porwest (113083)
• United States
11 May
@moffittjc The worst part about droughts is that the ground hardens, so when the rains do come not only is it too much, but there's no place for it to go.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128906)
• Gainesville, Florida
9 May
It sure is beautiful. My neighbor spends a lot of time caring for her roses.
2 people like this
@snowy22315 (209575)
• United States
10 May
Glad you got rain .lovely roses. I think the lack of rain is all over the South..including here
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128906)
• Gainesville, Florida
10 May
They keep telling us that due to El Niño we are going to have a wetter summer than normal, but our rainy season just hasn't started yet. I'm really hoping it starts soon. I don't care if it rains every single day this summer, we need to make up for our rain deficit.
@moffittjc (128906)
• Gainesville, Florida
10 May
Enjoy that mild weather while grilling outside! I'm a little jealous right now, I love grilling!
@JESSY3236 (22316)
• United States
12 May
We also got some rain. I think we are still in a drought. By the way, I did get to try that toasted vanilla creamer finally. It is really good.
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128906)
• Gainesville, Florida
12 May
Oh wow, it’s awesome that you remembered the toasted vanilla creamer! Now you’ve got me craving it! Haha
We’ve been getting a lot of rain for the past 4 days, but it is barely putting a dent in our drought. In fact, even after 4 straight days of rain, all of the wildfires around us are still burning.
1 person likes this
