LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Think back for a second to any extended period of time in 2023 where it didn't rain. It's probably pretty hard, right?
It has felt as if every single week to start this year has had some amount of rainfall— and those who work outdoors have seen that first hand.
"Getting up under her drive, so we're trying to get it out and down the drive here," Cedric Webb, owner of Going the Extra Mile Landscaping, said while working on a home in Little Rock. "Everybody's more concerned about the water getting into the home."
Whether it's a washout or a sprinkle doesn't matter. For Webb and his crew, rain has helped their landscape grow, but that also poses several problems.
"We're definitely doing record numbers for getting the calls," he said. "You know, being able to get to the jobs and get them done in a timely fashion."
The owner of the hold they've been working on told us how they've had to reschedule several times— which isn't something Webb can control.
"Everybody's been considerate, due to the tornado, due to the record rainfall, everyone's been considerate," he said.
Record rainfall is right.
Data from our THV11 Weather Team shows that since records first started being collected in the late 1800s, we've had more rain than any other year through this time.
Landscapers aren't the only ones who have had to dodge the raindrops, farmers have also been keeping an eye on the sky.
"Because of those wet soil conditions, so, those are some of the challenges that we have in different types of agriculture that we're looking at right now," Vic Ford, Associate Vice President of the University of Arkansas' Division of Agriculture, said.
Fortunately, he also explained that they've already adjusted plans.
"Folks have adapted to stay in business and how to get around that," Ford said. "I think a lot of folks that I have talked to have been very successful."
With a start to the year as rainy as this, it's what they have to do. Webb said patience is key as they work around Mother Nature.
"You want to try to, you know, help everyone," he said. "You got to have patience so you can be able to get to everyone in time."