Tuesday, June 29, 2010

It Has Been A Rainy Tuesday In Fort Worth With More Water On The Way

Rain dripped from above until after noon today. I don't think we've seen the last of the wet stuff. The forecast is for more wetness for the next 5 days.

Around 3 this afternoon I needed to escape from rubbing my fingertips sore on a keyboard.

So, I hiked over to Miss Puerto Rico's balcony to enjoy the slightly cool breeze and the view of the retreating storm.

Having said that. I just walked outside for a second. Wet stuff is falling again. Though not in copious amounts.

Texas in summer, in the past 2 days, has become like a Washington winter. Except warmer. But the rain seems way too familiar. Except here, in Texas, the rain falls with extreme prejudice in a volume I never saw in Washington.

Well, there was the Thanksgiving Flood in the 1990s. I remember 5 inches of rain falling within a couple hours in a Texas-style downpour. This wreaked all sorts of havoc of the flooding sort. Not flash floods. More massive than that.

In Texas you don't have snowmelt due to rising temperatures sending massive amounts of water into the rivers, because Texas removed its mountains years ago. I think around the time Texas removed its Native Americans. Mountains and Indians went to Oklahoma. I may be misinformed about this.

I remember during the Thanksgiving Flood staying up late sandbagging the dike in downtown Mount Vernon, to save the downtown. The crest of the flood was expected to breech the sandbags. A HUGE crowd gathered to wait for the crest.

Suddenly the river dropped a couple feet. It was a major what the hell moment. Within an hour it was known that a dike further down river had failed, flooding what is known as Fir Island. The release of pressure saved downtown Mount Vernon.

Massive efforts were made to repair the dike breech following the Thanksgiving Flood. And then 2 weeks later it happened again.

I sort of miss this type of weather drama. But, actually, Texas weather drama outdoes Washington weather drama, for the most part. The snow can get a bit more wicked there, it can get colder, Pacific typhoons can be a bit breezy, a Washington HEAT WAVE is a torture Texans can not imagine.

Because few people in Washington have air conditioning. Due to not needing it, except for a couple days a decade.

It has been a good last Tuesday of June 2010. Up late the night before, up before dawn's crack, learned that the Queen of Wink is okay, and hopefully safely back in Wink. And I went swimming in the rain this morning. Does not get much better than that.

My drippy forecast below....

2 comments:

MLK said...

I actually miss the heat sometimes. The way it comes up from the sidewalk and engulfs your legs in heat. I used to walk the Trinity Trail near Bryant Irvin road in West FW. Miss it.

Durango said...

MLK, Learning to LOVE the HEAT is the biggest surprise to me of any thing regarding my adjustment to Texas. I know the trail of which you speak. I've biked it many a time.