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MALONE — The calendar says summer is here, but you'd never know it from the rain, cool temperatures and sour moods of people wanting a hot, dry season.
Squeals from happy children and the hum of busy farm equipment have been replaced by monotonous dripping from rooftop eaves and cars splashing through highway puddles.
The region can expect to continue hearing that — National Weather Service professionals and Old Farmer's Almanac forecasters all call for rain most of this summer.
It was already a challenge for business owners to remain optimistic in today's global economic downturn. But those counting on summer trade to boost them back up are finding it harder to keep going because of the poor weather.
"We definitely are seeing a difference, and it's discouraging," said Chloe Orr of Port Henry Pool and Spas in Moriah.
Fewer people are able to use their pools when there is so little in the way of warm temperatures and sunny skies.
"We only had three days in June and, so far, July doesn't look much better," Orr said.
"What's really disappointing is we do water testing, and one of the questions I ask is, 'Have you used your pool?' Unfortunately, people are saying 'once, maybe twice' or 'the grandkids have jumped in a few times,' but that's all. Nobody is using their pool."
Landscapers are also facing a battle.
Some can't get to the work they promised their customers because of the frequent rainstorms.
Robin Dragoon of Better Care Lawns and Landscaping of Plattsburgh said her husband, Bob, is doing what he can to stay on top of his work and that his clients have been patient so far.
"There are jobs he's started that he can't finish because of the weather, especially paving jobs because it needs to be very dry.
"He does have a few jobs backed up, but people have been very understanding because they are getting the rain, too."
Dragoon said that when her husband can't get to the outdoor work he has to do, he's spending time sharpening his tools, changing the oil in his equipment and providing estimates for future jobs.
"He's doing the little things that he doesn't always get the time to do. But if it's rainy in the morning and sunny in the afternoon, he's out there.
"But he keeps getting home later and later."
WET FORECAST
Farmer's Almanac readers won't be surprised by the season's downpours.
Its forecast for the Northeast for July predicts scattered thunderstorms, rain and average temperatures in the 70s.
It states that August will start off rainy and cool for the first two weeks, followed by showers and sunny periods from Aug. 17 to 22.
Thunderstorms will return for the last two weeks of August, the almanac states.
The National Weather Service in Burlington seems to agree.
Today is looking like the best day to get some outdoor work done in the North Country because another weekend of rain is in the immediate forecast.
"We've got another front moving in Saturday night, and we'll see rain late Saturday and into Sunday," said Maureen Breitbabh, meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
"And it looks like we're going to be getting pretty much the same thing the rest of the week."
About the only good news is that instead of soaking everything for hours, brief rain showers are expected.
"We've got another upper low-pressure system moving down from Canada to our area," Breitbabh said. "Previous ones have stayed over us, but this one looks like it's going to hold farther north."
The North Country could see lighter rainfall from the rotating back edge of the pattern rather than its full force.
Breitbabh said July temperatures "will be cooler than normal and the rainfall higher than normal."
And even though August is expected to offer normal temperatures in the mid- to high 70s, "we will also see higher-than-normal precipitation," she said.
FARMERS STALLED
The soggy weather has increased the number of calls to the National Weather Service from concerned farmers.
"We've had a lot of calls, saying they have to do their haying. They need two or three days to get the hay in, but there haven't been two or three days in a row of dry weather for them. There's nothing they can do," Breitbabh said.
"There has been a lot of rain, and everybody's getting pretty tired of it."
E-mail Denise A. Raymo at: draymo@pressrepublican.com
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