Posts Tagged ‘severe weather’
As Advertised
Warnings were showing up everywhere we looked Monday night, indicating a severe thunderstorm was heading for our location. I had a news station on the television with a meteorologist struggling to find new and different ways to say the same thing over and over about the impending threat, and a livestream of storm chasers on my laptop with constantly refreshing Doppler scan radar images of the Minneapolis and St. Paul metro area.
Possible winds as high as 70 mph were coming our way. It was dark outside, so we couldn’t see it when it hit, but we could hear it. At one point, Cyndie and I looked at each other and acknowledged we had just heard something big coming down.
Before we’d even left the house yesterday morning, we could see the crazy number of leaves stuck to the back deck and the front steps. There were an almost equal number of small and medium-sized branches on the ground everywhere we looked.
It didn’t take long to reach the largest chunk of a tree that snapped and crashed to the ground in the woods near our house.
We could hear the sound of a chainsaw coming from a neighboring property. I prepared myself for the possibility of finding a big tree that had come down. Instead, we just encountered a shocking number of fallen branches beneath every tree.
There was a significant number of willow branches both under the tree and scattered across the driveway.
When I got around to mowing, it required a lot of extra cleanup effort around trees.
The debris on the ground from this storm was greater than any prior event we’ve seen in our 13 years here. I consider it a blessing that we did not lose any large trees in their entirety. The rain gauges captured just over an inch of precipitation, so we escaped any ill effects of flash flooding.
Probably the most satisfying fact we can feel happy about is that the shade sail shows no signs of any damage. That was one heck of a test of its ability to remain up during periods of heavy winds.
In the afternoon, we heard another chainsaw being used by a neighbor on the other side of us. It occurred to me that we should have taken a little drive to see the extent of tree damage around our township.
The warnings we received were accurate. The damaging winds that had been advertised arrived and delivered.
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Minimal Damage
It was close to the dinner hour when suddenly both our phones erupted in startling alarm tones. A tornado warning was issued for our location. I was upstairs in the loft and Cyndie wondered aloud about heading to the basement. Looking out the skylight window, I could see there was no rain or wind yet so I checked the weather radar and listened to the details from the meteorologist.
A big gust of wind blasted over us just as the big raindrops came pouring down. Before I could even think about making a move, the wind was gone. We hadn’t heard a thing but Cyndie glanced out at the deck and saw our glass table with an umbrella in the middle had been tossed over along with a bench glider.
Surprisingly, the glass appeared to have survived intact. I commented that we left the umbrella up, but Cyndie said it wasn’t open before the wind got under it.
Soon the TV weather guy was hyping the location of a Doppler-indicated tornado in our immediate vicinity. Based on the conditions right before our eyes, I deduced it was most likely a bit north and east of our property, heading away from us. I think we lucked out by a very thin margin.
We’ll do a broader survey of the property when the sun comes up, but as of last night, it looked like tossed deck furniture was the only noticeable disruption visible from the house.
I have no idea why we didn’t hear a thing when the furniture on the deck went tumbling.
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Should Be
This is as it should be. The horses are peacefully enjoying the fresh green pasture. Simply idyllic.
I am very happy to report that the horses have been very calm about moving through the gate to the pasture when I open it. They have also been self-policing their minutes on the field. When my timer has gone off reminding me to usher them back to the confines of the paddocks the last two days, I have found they had already returned on their own.
Yesterday they were all willing participants in receiving their spring dose of dewormer medication. By all indications, they have become well adjusted and are at peace with the accommodations we are providing. It is interesting to think back to how they presented in the early days after their arrival a little over one year ago.
It’s been rewarding to witness the slow changes as they began to grow more comfortable with us and their surroundings with the passing of each month. They are beginning to take on a look that says they agree that this is exactly where they should be at this point in their lives.
They must be happy that the close calls with severe weather recently have all turned out well for us. There was nothing visible yesterday morning to indicate a big windy thunderstorm rolled over us the night before. At least, in terms of trees and branches that is. There were plenty of hints we had experienced a flash flood.
The diagonal line through the field in the image above is where the runoff flattened the grass on the way to the drainage ditch along our southern property border. We really need to find our rain gauges and get those set up again. I prefer knowing how much rain falls from big storms.
Cyndie recalls storing one of them last fall in a very smart place where we would be able to find it again in spring. So far, no luck.
Her new milestone of knee replacement recovery for yesterday (just over 3 weeks out) was, taking her first walk on a trail through our woods. She did it without a cane or any supporting devices. She’s not pain free yet, but she is definitely making good progress on using that leg more and more. The machine providing compression and icing is a godsend that really helps the rest periods between all the exercise she is getting.
I think I would like one of those fancy machines with a sleeve that fits over my whole body. I suppose I could always take an ice bath.
Okay, that just changed my mind. I don’t want to take an ice bath.
Although, yesterday’s heat and humidity was rather oppressive…
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Memorable Birthday
Yesterday was Cyndie’s birthday, and she thinks she will remember it for the stormy weather we ventured out into to pick up our kids and join her parents for a nice restaurant dinner in downtown Minneapolis. Tavola was the destination, and man, was the food tasty. I ordered a side of brussel sprouts that were fabulous, if you like brussel sprouts.
The radar looked threatening and the radio warning reports were disturbing, but our drive and our home were spared the worst of the severe weather, despite how ominous it looked as we drove toward Hudson.
That weather front’s bark was worse than its sight. I’m not complaining.
We have no idea how wild conditions were at home while we were at dinner, nor how much the storm riled Delilah. She seemed cool and collected by the time we got home, a couple hours past my bedtime. <yawn>
The other thing Cyndie might remember about this birthday is the surprise egg that showed up in one of the nest boxes.
One of these things is not like the other. That small, shinier egg in the middle is not from one of our chickens.
Who’s been sleeping nesting in my bed nest box!?
There are frequently small bird visitors to the coop throughout the day. Apparently, one of them has been paying attention to the morning activity of the hens and decided to follow suit.
That egg’s not going to make a very large omelet.
UPDATE: 7:26 a.m. 6/5/19
Cyndie just informed me she learned it wasn’t some other bird intruding on the coop, based on new information. It is a “Fairy Egg.”
The learning never stops… It’s all new to me!
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Relative Something 