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Defensible Space
Aug. 1st, 2021 02:54 pmYesterday stayed cloudy all day and (relatively) cool. I decided to tackle digging up the growth in the field next to the house, which, once it dries out, is a hazard.
( Creating Defensible Space )
I was masked up while doing yard work, mostly against dust and pollen, but also from wildfire smoke that rolled back in. However, late in the evening, light winds cleared some of it out and cooled things off again. Lisa and I sat on the porch under the awning enjoying cooler air and being able to look at things more than a couple of meters away. A few drops of rain started to fall. As more rain fell, the air cleared some more and we mostly stayed dry, but even where we were getting rain falling on us, it seemed to dry quickly, which shows how dry the air is here.
Rain doesn't usually last very long around here, but this storm had some bite to it. There was also quite of bit of lightning in it, mostly cloud-to-cloud, and I hope that anything that hit the ground either didn't cause fires, or left ones that were extinguished by the rapidly increasing rain. After maybe 30 minutes, my phone blew up with a Flash Flood Warning from the National Weather Service. Water started to flow into the field where I had been cleaning brush earlier in the day. I couldn't get pictures, as it was too dark.
We pulled our chairs closer to the wall under the small awning, but after a while the wind also picked up and we had to head inside. Before we did so, we saw several trains passing through Fernley, all moving slowly. That was because Union Pacific had declared condition "FF" (Flash Flood) for the area, so all trains had to move at reduced speed, looking for washouts on the many small culverts along this stretch of track. We also heard a local maintainer in his hi-rail vehicle, when he pulled in behind the train stopped on the main in order to make room for a westbound train creeping from Hazen to Fernley to pass.
( Drama on the Railroad )
Today, the clouds cleared (too bad; it was nice and cool), the smoke started leaking back into town, and the water had soaked into the thirsty lakebed on which Fernley sits.
( After the Storm )
All in all, we're glad that we did not have to be out in that weather last night (although we would have liked having an enclosed porch from which we could have watched the rain) and that our property is not subject to flooding other than oversize puddles, thanks to the local lay of the land.
( Creating Defensible Space )
I was masked up while doing yard work, mostly against dust and pollen, but also from wildfire smoke that rolled back in. However, late in the evening, light winds cleared some of it out and cooled things off again. Lisa and I sat on the porch under the awning enjoying cooler air and being able to look at things more than a couple of meters away. A few drops of rain started to fall. As more rain fell, the air cleared some more and we mostly stayed dry, but even where we were getting rain falling on us, it seemed to dry quickly, which shows how dry the air is here.
Rain doesn't usually last very long around here, but this storm had some bite to it. There was also quite of bit of lightning in it, mostly cloud-to-cloud, and I hope that anything that hit the ground either didn't cause fires, or left ones that were extinguished by the rapidly increasing rain. After maybe 30 minutes, my phone blew up with a Flash Flood Warning from the National Weather Service. Water started to flow into the field where I had been cleaning brush earlier in the day. I couldn't get pictures, as it was too dark.
We pulled our chairs closer to the wall under the small awning, but after a while the wind also picked up and we had to head inside. Before we did so, we saw several trains passing through Fernley, all moving slowly. That was because Union Pacific had declared condition "FF" (Flash Flood) for the area, so all trains had to move at reduced speed, looking for washouts on the many small culverts along this stretch of track. We also heard a local maintainer in his hi-rail vehicle, when he pulled in behind the train stopped on the main in order to make room for a westbound train creeping from Hazen to Fernley to pass.
( Drama on the Railroad )
Today, the clouds cleared (too bad; it was nice and cool), the smoke started leaking back into town, and the water had soaked into the thirsty lakebed on which Fernley sits.
( After the Storm )
All in all, we're glad that we did not have to be out in that weather last night (although we would have liked having an enclosed porch from which we could have watched the rain) and that our property is not subject to flooding other than oversize puddles, thanks to the local lay of the land.
