Finally Got a Little Rain!
By Jeff Moffitt
@moffittjc (128360)
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?
11 people like this
11 responses
@moffittjc (128360)
• Gainesville, Florida
7h
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?
2 people like this
@moffittjc (128360)
• Gainesville, Florida
3h
@sallypup I'm glad to hear you're getting a little sun out there!
2 people like this
@sallypup (68950)
• Centralia, Washington
6h
@moffittjc Many times we have a cloudy morning and sunnier afternoon.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (128360)
• Gainesville, Florida
12h
They are beautiful, and my neighbor takes great pride in caring for them.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (128360)
• Gainesville, Florida
7h
@augusta123 There was not really a strong scent to them, until I got my nose down really close to the flowers.
1 person likes this
@Juliaacv (55795)
• Canada
10h
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.
2 people like this
@moffittjc (128360)
• Gainesville, Florida
7h
It sounds like you have a full and complete and satisfying day planned today! Enjoy your time with the girls!
2 people like this
@Juliaacv (55795)
• Canada
7h
@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 (128360)
• Gainesville, Florida
7h
@Juliaacv I, for one, love food on a stick. Any food. Any stick. LOL
1 person likes this
@moffittjc (128360)
• Gainesville, Florida
12h
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 (128360)
• Gainesville, Florida
7h
@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 (237589)
• Walnut Creek, California
11h
@moffittjc Interesting stuff. My roses thing was just a hypothsis.I had not read about the tomatoes. Makes sense.
2 people like this
@MarieCoyle (57995)
•
11h
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. 
2 people like this
@moffittjc (128360)
• Gainesville, Florida
7h
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.
1 person likes this
@AmbiePam (118813)
• United States
11h
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 (128360)
• Gainesville, Florida
7h
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
@FourWalls (85800)
• United States
12h
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 (128360)
• Gainesville, Florida
11h
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
@wolfgirl569 (134187)
• Marion, Ohio
6h
Hope you keep getting rain. Those are lovely
1 person likes this
@JudyEv (379506)
• Rockingham, Australia
Just now
I hope you get some more rain soon. Australia is no stranger to drought although lately we seem to have more floods than droughts. The smoky air doesn't sound good.
@moffittjc (128360)
• Gainesville, Florida
11h
It sure is beautiful. My neighbor spends a lot of time caring for her roses.
1 person likes this
