The weather in the high desert likes its drama. Sometimes it gets downright scary even for a seen-it-all old hermit. This was probably the biggest storm Tobie had ever seen, and at its height it had him seriously considering peeing on the floor.
According to the rain gauge we got a little over an inch and a half in an hour. I would have guessed more than that – and at the height of the storm it was slamming down hard enough I’d guess accuracy is an issue.
The gullies in front and behind the cabin both ran pretty hard, though no record…
…and at least the front trench needs to be completely re-dug.
At one point we got pea-sized hail slamming down on the bedroom’s metal roof…
…and that was when Tobie started whining and I caught the distinct aroma of a dog about to void his bladder just on general principals. In fairness to Tobie he didn’t actually leave a puddle, but I think he did kind of soil himself just a bit. He’d never seen anything quite like this.
When the rain finally slacked off he settled down, but it’s been quite a while since the storm passed and he’s still not sure he has forgiven his safe familiar world for betraying him.
It rained really hard for a solid hour, and it sounded like three separate storm cells passed over. Assuming they came from the east I expected the wash to run, the only question being how hard…
But when the water inevitably came it really wasn’t much for all that brouhaha. I climbed to Ian’s place about an hour after the rain slacked off to drizzle, and the flow didn’t really amount to much. If all those cells had come from the plateau I think we’d have gotten more. The crossings will probably be passible by tomorrow, unless there are some good mud flows.
There appears to be no damage other than some new ruts and at least one filled drainage ditch. The electrical system seems fine, so no lightning strikes of note.
