Like the rest of the American Midwest, Kansas has been experiencing a severe drought this year. In Manhattan, we are 13 inches below average rainfall as we approach year’s end. I was reminded of that statistic this morning. Heading out to the Konza Prairie to take photos of the changing seasons, I was struck by how low the Kansas River was when I crossed the bridge over it; so I pulled over into a boat launch area take pictures of the low water. It appeared quite shallow. I can’t imagine boating here.
The other side of the riverbed is just below the trees in the background.
The picture below is of one of the old bridge supports. (The new bridge, above, is not far away.) If you look closely, you can see where the river is trickling past in the background.
I decided to take the opportunity to photograph some of the native plants that had bloomed earlier in the year.
While doing so, I stumbled upon this piece of driftwood. For a split second, I thought that it was a rattle snake. Afterward, I was rather keen to get back in my car.
When I got to the prairie, several of the creek beds were bone dry.
The deeper ones had a little water. Small plants were thriving in the puddles at the edges where the water was drying up.
But overall, it is pretty darned dry.
A Taste of Morning 
That is dry. Images that makes me wish for rain soon. Great post.
Thank you for your kind note. We really could use some rain.
Hoping you got some of the snow blanketing the Midwest right now.
Thank you for your wishes. Unfortunately, we did not get any snow or rain. The temperature plummeted from 46 to 9 degrees yesterday and not a drop of moisture fell.
I live in Enid, Oklahoma, and we’re suffering the drought as well. No rain in the forecast yet…
Yes, I have seen in the news that OK is quite bad too. With any luck both areas might get a nice soaking rain sometime soon!
A very nice set of photos. If you didn’t identify that piece of driftwood, I would have thought that was a very excellent photo of a coiled rattler.
Some family friends, who live in Junction City, have said the weather goes around them, whether it be rain or snow. They’ve observed this for many years. Hopefully, Mother Nature will eventually correct the situation.
Most of the time having the weather go around us is a good thing. It means that we miss tornados and heavy snow; but we could definitely use a bit of rain.
Just click the yellow shoes and this would change..
There are certainly a lot of farmers who would like to be able to do that!
wow.. that river is really low.
Yes, it is very sad looking.