Welcome Rain
Jul. 2nd, 2021 08:38 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kevin_standleeAfter days of 40+°C heat, a thunderstorm yesterday afternoon was a welcome relief.
At first there was just light rain and little wind, with what wind there was blowing from the west. That's the same direction the porch faces, so we could sit under the small awning over the front door out of the rain.
Temperatures fell between 5-10°C, and it was very comfortable; moreso than inside the house, where we had opened windows to try and get the heat out.
The recent thunderstorms we've been getting typically only last five to ten minutes, but this one stuck around and intensified. The winds shifted to coming from the east, which drove us back inside. Water started to pool up a bit, although the area around our house isn't likely to flood due to the slight slope southward from the railroad tracks.
We had to close some of the open windows in the house because too much water was blowing through them. We tried to keep others cracked open a bit, though, as the natural air conditioning was too good to pass up.
After about an hour since the first drops started falling, the storm abated, having dropped roughly 10% of our annual average rainfall according to what I saw on Weather Underground. Most of the accumulated water would be gone by the next morning, either by quick evaporation in our low humidity or by soaking into the lake bed on which Fernley sits.
I didn't hold still in the twilight, but the setting sun found a way through the storm clouds to set up a partial rainbow over Fernley.
The local wildlife stayed under cover while the rain fell, but soon after it stopped, these two rabbits emerged and started foraging. I expect the amount of green growth here to multiply rapidly in the next few days with lots of sun after so much water. I need to get out there relatively soon and start digging again in the defense zone east of our fence line, while these plants are green and soft and haven't yet developed the thorns that plague us later in the summer.
Last night was pleasant and cool in the aftermath of the storm. While we saw lightning during the storm, we did not hear any sirens, so we hope that there were no fires caused by the relatively brief but somewhat intense storm that, as I read the weather radar, popped up almost out of nowhere and then dissolved after dropping its load of welcome water on us.
I have today (mostly) off from Day Jobbe, and we have some travel plans about which I will talk more later should they actually turn into actions.
At first there was just light rain and little wind, with what wind there was blowing from the west. That's the same direction the porch faces, so we could sit under the small awning over the front door out of the rain.
Temperatures fell between 5-10°C, and it was very comfortable; moreso than inside the house, where we had opened windows to try and get the heat out.
The recent thunderstorms we've been getting typically only last five to ten minutes, but this one stuck around and intensified. The winds shifted to coming from the east, which drove us back inside. Water started to pool up a bit, although the area around our house isn't likely to flood due to the slight slope southward from the railroad tracks.
We had to close some of the open windows in the house because too much water was blowing through them. We tried to keep others cracked open a bit, though, as the natural air conditioning was too good to pass up.
After about an hour since the first drops started falling, the storm abated, having dropped roughly 10% of our annual average rainfall according to what I saw on Weather Underground. Most of the accumulated water would be gone by the next morning, either by quick evaporation in our low humidity or by soaking into the lake bed on which Fernley sits.
I didn't hold still in the twilight, but the setting sun found a way through the storm clouds to set up a partial rainbow over Fernley.
The local wildlife stayed under cover while the rain fell, but soon after it stopped, these two rabbits emerged and started foraging. I expect the amount of green growth here to multiply rapidly in the next few days with lots of sun after so much water. I need to get out there relatively soon and start digging again in the defense zone east of our fence line, while these plants are green and soft and haven't yet developed the thorns that plague us later in the summer.
Last night was pleasant and cool in the aftermath of the storm. While we saw lightning during the storm, we did not hear any sirens, so we hope that there were no fires caused by the relatively brief but somewhat intense storm that, as I read the weather radar, popped up almost out of nowhere and then dissolved after dropping its load of welcome water on us.
I have today (mostly) off from Day Jobbe, and we have some travel plans about which I will talk more later should they actually turn into actions.
no subject
Date: 2021-07-03 12:44 pm (UTC)Is the (orange? red?) box at the corner of your chain link fence your mailbox (it doesn't look like one)? Or is it for newspapers, or something else? I don't recall your mentioning a local newspaper, but then again newspapers have been falling out of favor in many places. Perhaps a previous resident got a previous paper delivered there. Just curious. And happy rain!
no subject
Date: 2021-07-03 01:47 pm (UTC)When I was in high school, I delivered newspapers (the Sierra Daily News) by bicycle to around 120 customers in the large mobile home park where I lived when my father was stationed in Bishop with the US Forest Service.