Not a good weekend for golf! by Susan Powell
Both the USA PGA Tour and the European Tour have fallen foul of washout weather this weekend...
Hail, sleet and even snow cleared the greens of the USA PGA tour in Atlanta, Georgia on Saturday!
This was the third day of the four day tournament to be hit by the weather - two complete days had already been lost to heavy rain. Friday saw 43mm (just under 2") of rain fall in just 12 hours. The average total for the whole of April is only 105mm.
The Atlanta tournament had been billed as the final warm-up event for next week's US Masters in Augusta. So much for warming up - American player Rich Beem even resorted to tying a pair of socks around his head to keep his ears warm! At least he has stuck with the tournament though; a number of players bailed out before it even started deterred by the poor weather forecast.
This is the eighth out of the fourteen USA PGA tournaments played so far this season to be hit badly by the weather!
The rain and snow that swept across Georgia was associated with a cold front trailing from a deep area of low pressure that has spread severe weather almost from coast to coast across the US. The low began deluging California with heavy rain early last week, blanketed Colorado with snow on its journey over the Rockies midweek and is now just exiting the Midwest after a well soaked weekend.
Fingers crossed with this big system well out of the way the Masters will fare better - but there are certainly no guarantees!
Meanwhile, across the Atlantic heavy rain greeted the early starters in the third round of the Portuguese Open Saturday.
After two days of bright and breezy weather at Estoril on Portugal's Atlantic coast, the start of the weekend saw the weather taking an unsettled turn as low pressure rolled across Iberia.
The downpours here were not as intense as in Georgia but around 15mm (over 0.5") of rain still managed to fall in six hours. (The monthly average is 91mm.)
The unsettled weather will continue today - players are likely to see further showers, possibly heavy and thundery at times.
The rain here may be bad news for the golfers but for many it is welcome. More than half of mainland Portugal, 52%, is suffering from 'extreme' or 'severe' drought conditions, according to a report by the National Water Institute (Inag) this week. The rest of the country is facing either 'moderate' or 'weak' drought conditions, the report said.
Some 4,300 people in small villages, mostly in southern Portugal, are already facing serious water shortages because of the drought. Rainfall amounts have been below average here since September and the government has now said water rationing may be needed if significant falls don't arrive before summer.
The recent downpours will no doubt have helped to top up water levels, but the low responsible is set to pull away into the Med on Monday. However, the end of new week looks set to bring further rain.
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