Walsingham River

  When I left for work this morning I went out to try and read the rain gauge, but I was having trouble seeing where the water line was. I wanted to check it because the rain woke me up at 5:15. It was coming down hard, very hard, and that lasted for more then 30 minutes.

  So took off my socks, grabbed my water shoes, rolled up my pants and went wading. Rain like that usually floods the side yards and often the front yard too. This morning there was standing water in the back yard, too. (More then 60 minutes later Edward said it was still flooded.)  I usually call the yard Lake Morgan at times like these.

  I couldn't see the water line becuase the water was over the top of the measurable area of the gauge. It’s a five inch gauge. I had to dump some out into a container, then dump out the 5 inches it could measure and pour the rest back in to get it measured accurately.  It had six inches this morning. I had dumped that gauge before dark last night. I didn’t figure it would fill again, but I knew we were expecting more.

  The rainfall rate reached between 2.5-3 inches an hour before dawn. Most of the rain in that gauge was from 4 am as it just kept raining harder and harder.

  The grand total in our gauge.  11 inches in about 30 hours from Tropical Storm Colin.

  Thank the powers-that-be we 1) live on a “hill” (55 ft above sea level) (this is Pinellas County, that's high), 2) Florida has sandy soil that drains, 3) I live on said sandy soil and 4) my neighborhood drains well.  I can’t say the same for other places in the area.  The phone went off at 6:10 with a flash flood warning right after I got up.  

  Driving in wasn’t too bad, though it was raining pretty good.  It faked me out since it had let up at the house. I drove into heavier showers. The retaining ponds in the area are overflowing.

  And this is the ditch behind the house, otherwise known as "Walsingham River” when we get rain like this. That much rain makes for an impressive show.  We’re pretty sure the far side is lower then our side. We’ve never seen it get to the top, though we have seen it higher then this. And that's down about 12 inches from where is was right before dawn. The ditch is at least half again deep as that small tree is high, if not deeper. It’s a lot of water.

  It’s still raining in St Petersburg, though it’s stopped at the house, for the moment. This line of showers is moving south slowly. So it may keep up for a while yet. We’ve already gotten our monthly allotment of rain for June. And it’s only the 7th. Hopefully we can retain some of this water for drier spells later in the year, long after the Walsingham River has returned to normal levels.

Rough Weather

  As I was driving home this evening I noticed a lot of cars coming at me with their lights on.  In Florida, if your wipers are going, you're supposed to have your headlights on.  Most people forget to turn their lights off until they turn off their cars.

  I scanned the horizon for a dark curtain of rain below the clouds, but instead noticed that one tall thunderhead was draped in a gauzy white, sunlit curtain of rain falling from its highest reach.  Ah, there is it.  Someone is getting a sun shower…  Nice.

  By the time I got home, the edge of that curtain of rain was dripping lightly, but steadily, on the house.  

  Then the fun began….

  When the thunderhead producing the rain was met by a gust front moving up from the south, it began to pour heavily.  Edward and I had started grilling chicken for dinner as the rain increased.  Our grill is on the porch, thankfully undercover, so the grill was dry.  As the rain picked up it started to slant to the south.   I turned to Edward, and gestured in the direction of the rain.  But when I turned back, the rain was no longer slanting to the south.  Literally, in a matter of seconds, the rain had shifted from slanting to the south, to slanting to the north. I blinked, Edward said "oh shit".  He'd seen this before, in April 2010.   

  The wind was picking up more and now the rain, which had initially been blowing the other way, was blowing onto the porch and onto the grill, which steamed as the rain now falling on it evaporated.  The trees and plants in the ditch swayed ominously.   

  In April of 2010, a front moved down from the northwest, with heavy rains and strong winds.  As the front made landfall we got a tornado warning.  Radar indicated tornadic activity offshore of Largo, moving east.  Toward the house.  I tried to call Edward from work, but what I didn't know was that lightening had struck the streetlight outside the house 15 minutes earlier.  Our phone line was fried and the power was out.  Edward, with nothing else to do, stood watching it rain out the back window.  First to the north, then to the south then from the east.  All in less than a minute.  Then the tree branches started falling.  A tornado had passed approximately a half mile north of the house.  The rapidly shifting winds were the only indicator Edward had as to what was going on.   

  Tonight, as Edward watched the shifting winds, I got out the computer.  The National Weather Service monitors storm clouds with doppler radar, generating a map called the radial velocity.  Clouds approaching the radar are colored red, while those moving away are colored green.   Usually, between the bright red and green areas, there are fainters colors.  When you see two bright opposing colors side-by-side that usually means bad things.  Tonight, that spot was right over us.   Strangely, there were no tornado warnings, not even a severe thunderstorm warning, only urban flood warnings.  That fit as 20 minutes after it started we had 1.25 inches of rain in our gauge.

  By the time the chicken had finished, the winds had shifted to the north again, and calmed down significantly.  The grill was no longer getting rained on.  The areas of red and green on the radial velocity map had started to separate and moved north and offshore.  It was still raining, but things were much quieter.  

  We finished dinner in peace and continued on with the rest of our evening.  I'm still surprised that not even a severe thunderstorm warning had been issued.  That's the problem with knowing how to read those maps.  They can scare scare the shit out of you.  But mostly, I'm glad there was no damage.  A small branch came down in the back yard, nothing of any significance.  I'll pick it up in the morning when I walk the yard before work.  In the meantime, both of us can't help but wonder about this year's weather.  It seems like this area has seen more then its fair share of tornados and waterspouts.  And we're not done yet.  Hurricane season has begun to stretch it's legs as we approach the peak of the season next week.  Only time will tell if we are in for more rough weather.

We Needed The Rain

Storms move onshore.
A crow caws on the light post.
Protector or trickster, message or omen.
A sign of things to come?

The clouds move over us,
Cats careen from room to room.
Thunder rumbles and lightening flashes.
The sky is only bright to the east.

The wind swirls and blows.
Rain runs from the roof in rivulets.
The birdbath fills and overflows,
Watering newly planted seeds.

The storm passes.
The crow moves on, his job completed.
The message from the gods:
No tricks today.

The western sky brightens.
The dark clouds retreat to the east.
I like crows.
We needed the rain.

Rain, Rain, Wash Away...

(With Deference to: Row, Row, Row, your boat...)

Rain, Rain, wash away,
gently down the stream,
all the pollen in the air,
'til it's nice and clean,

Rain, Rain, wash away,
wash until its clean,
merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily,
let the people breath....

Lemon Light...

There was a storm approaching.... The radar was showing bright red just east of us. About 30 minutes ago it started rumbling, quietly at first, then progressively louder. The sun was also setting, and as it did, it got below the edge of the clouds to the west and the whole sky lit up with lemon yellow light. Beautiful and erie at the same time. Greens became richer or darker, depending on the tree or plant or grass. The cedar took on a rich, dark green hue.

I wandered out to the end of the driveway to watch the sky. Off to the east, in the direction of the approaching storm, low scud clouds were standing out against their darker comrades as they raced west. Lightning began to stand out against the darkening sky. The rumbles got louder. From the east, the winds picked up, carrying the telltale signs of approaching rain. Cooler temperatures and the feeling of more moisture in the air. It was time to retreat to the front patio.

The sky began to fade. But then, the sky turned orange. The greens became muted, and the lightning more frequent. It was starting to rain.

I retreated into the house to watch the rest of the storm. We sat in the front room with the lights off. The frequent lightning was strong enough to light up the room in the fading light. You could tell the direction the light was coming from, first to the north, then south. Rumbles answered all the flashes. The computer chimed. EmergencyEmail.org reported rainfall rates of two inches an hour in Pinellas. Urban flood advisories were issued.

The storm has passed now. We didn't get the torrential downpour I thought we would. The thunder has quieted, the lightning dimmed. There is still a lot of rain out there. In an hour or so, the storm will have moved offshore. Lightning may still dance across the sky, but the thunder will be too far away to hear. Outside, the side walk is still wet... proof that a storm had passed by.

Rain!

We got some... a little, well, not very much at all, really, but Rain! It lasted about 5 minutes and probably won't even register in a rain gauge. Tough. We got Rain! And north of us, like two counties north, they actually had flood warnings this afternoon. Famous Florida Thunderstorm in May. Very heavy and very stationary. Lasts 30 minutes, or an hour, and dumps five inches of rain in one spot. That is a you-can't-see-across-the-street heavy rain. A Florida staple. Unfortunately, it's been so long since we had any rain that most of that will probably just run off. The ground is too dry for it to sink in.

But not our rain... we didn't get enough to have it run off. Well, it did rain hard enough to run off the roof. But that's OK. It soaked in around the house. We have to start somewhere. I'll take the small showers.

Big summer thunderstorms start with mini May showers that pass briefly by.