What happens when “chit chat” becomes too prolonged?
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That’s when you get “jibber jabber” … and that’s something I am going to try to avoid in this post.
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The water cycle has passed its peak.
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The rain clouds have shut off, and now too have one of the Everglades’ main water control structures: the S12A.
That only affects the southeast corner of the Big Cypress Swamp, but its closing is a symbolic milestone in the chronicles of the dry season saga infront of us.
But waters are still high “ecologically speaking.”
Despite water levels dropping steadily over the course of the past month, the wetting front is still hanging around in the “hydric pines”.
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That’s a notch below our highest uplands — the “mesic” pinelands, but it’s high enough to know that the Big Cypress’s fabbled sheetflow is still flowing.
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But also keep in mind that’s not high “statistically speaking” … water stage is just an inch or two above the long-term early November average. This is still sheetflow season.
And you can see where that average line leads us through the rest of the dry season: Down.
With the exception of 1994, one of the water cycle’s many exceptions.
That was a “dry” wet season, but quickly turned into a “wet” dry season when El Nino rains made their early winter mark.
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So grab hold of your seat!
Because we’re in for another dip in the slow motion roller coaster we call the water cycle.
And don’t worry about the cypress!
They’ll be holding water for another 3-4 months.
