When we were in Branson Missouri attending the FROG rally last spring, the area had been experiencing cool and very wet weather. So much rain had fallen in Southwest Missouri that the water level on Table Rock Lake had risen to a point that all ten flood gates on the dam had to be opened.
Releasing 68,000 cubic feet of water per second makes a darn good waterfall.
Here's a photo of a picnic area in Table Rock State Park taken on 4/30/2011.
Here's a photo of the same picnic area taken on 8/8/2011 with the lake at normal conservation pool.
Summer weather in the Branson area has been quite the opposite, it has been extremely hot and dry. It’s been so hot that many of the trees in the area are changing color.
I don't know if the trees were going dormant, of if they were actually dying.
When we arrived at our campsite in Table Rock Lake State Park on Sunday the temperature had soared to 107 degrees. I was drenched in sweat by the time I had the fifth wheel leveled, unhitched, and set up. Our 15k A/C couldn’t lower the temperature inside the trailer to a comfortable level until after 10 PM.
No, we didn't have a campfire that night.