Saturday, July 02, 2011

Wild weather....

 This was our view from the front porch a couple nights ago.  There is just nothing like watching a thunderstorm build on the horizon and finally arrive.  This ominous sky ended up producing 1.5" of rain and some marble sized hail all in just a few minutes.  The wind raged at approximately 50-60 mph so the damage that can be done by hail at those wind speeds is incredible.

S. took these first two photos.  He can do amazing things with the the exposure of the camera and can get a super picture even in the dark.  Catching lightning on film in digital is not an easy thing to do and catching it without it being a total blur is even cooler.

My veggie garden took a hard hit and 2 of our best hay fields were practically demolished.  We are not sure whether or not we can still go in and cut them or not.  The hay is flat and most of the alfalfa is broken off, but a few days will tell us a lot about how or if the field will snap out of it. Evidently it was a narrow strip of hail, because very few folks out here had the hail.  Those who did had damage.

We figured it had to have rained more to our south because about the time Hubs and I lay down to sleep, we heard a gurgling from our window.  And then a rushing-gushing sound.  We went downstairs, turned on the outdoor lights and found that the water had come down the draw so big and so hard and so fast that we had water rushing over our road grade.  We pulled on our boots and jackets and went looking around with flashlights.  I have never ever seen this happen here before, and Hubs said he had only seen it happen once in his lifetime.  Even our front yard was flooded half way to the front door.  Incredible.  I guess you could say we had a mini flash flood right here.  It has since gone down but we are wet, wet, wet!    Last night while all of us were in town, DIL saw a funnel cloud come out of a cloud and captured it on her camera.  She showed us the picture when she joined us for supper.

This morning Hubs and I went out to check the livestock and make sure nothing had been forced through the fences during those thunderstorms.  There was a lot of water puddled all over out in the pastures, but nothing had gone through the fences.  I loved seeing this picture of the cows and sheep together.  It is so very green out there on the range for July 2nd.  And wet.

As we made our way back home, it started to shower again.  The view through the ranger's window has been typical this year.  We are so grateful for the moisture, but wish we could share some of it with the folks down south who are suffering severe drought.

Tonight we are under another severe thunderstorm warning and tornado warnings too.  So far all the severe stuff has missed us.  That's how it is.  One ranch gets hit hard and another ranch never has a sprinkle.   It's so nice and calm now this evening that I think I'll take a walk.  Tomorrow the weatherman predicts we will have very hot weather -- in the upper 90's -- so by evening, we'll be in the severe thunderstorm warnings once again.  That's the weather from the prairie.  Tune in again tomorrow -- same prairie station, same prairie channel.

(click photos to enlarge)

7 comments:

  1. That lightning shot is gorgeous! Your little flood sounds scary -- I'm glad it wasn't worse. It was muggy and hot here today and now we're having a "scattered" shower. We've had tons of rain until the last week and now the ground has cracks in it, so it's nice to get a teeny bit tonight. Have a wonderful and safe 4th!

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  2. Wow, Jody, I am glad most everything is all right and will pray your hay will be, too. Ya'll have really had some crazy weather this year. Hail is so wickedly destructive. Texas sure could use some of that rain but no more hail. Stay safe!

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  3. I wish you had a picture of the creek running over...that would've been cool. Seth go awesome pictures!

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  4. I love the image of you and your hubby getting out of bed, putting on the boots and raincoats, and tromping around in the night air! I love the photo of the cows and sheep. Of course I do! Maybe you can ride your bike down for a swim today and then enjoy the storm tonight?

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  5. Wow! What an exciting time. I absolutely LOVE a good storm. Of course, I dont' have livestock and hay fields to worry about... I sent up a prayer for your fields, and I will tune in to the 'prairie channel' for updates!

    Blessings, Debbie

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  6. Whoa! Those photos are amazing. I'm glad you are OK. I will tune in and hopefully you'll be spared the worst of it...

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  7. Good grief Jody - what a night! Seems like all the rain we've had this year has come in the form of scary storms. Wouldn't a nice gentle slow rain be nice? We have a small chance of rain predicted here today, so we're crossing fingers, toes, etc. and saying our prayers (most importantly).
    Hope your crops are okay!
    Blessings,
    G

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