Weather

On Friday, the weather reports warned of severe thunderstorms arriving Monday.

Saturday, the warning were repeated and added "heavy rains".

Sunday, the storm warnings were updated to "torrential rains, hail, and strong winds".  The weather forecasts warned about  possible flooding, electrical outages, failed traffic lights, and falling trees. 

The forecast this morning was for all that to occur between 3pm and 8pm.

My patio tends to collect water because the lawn has slowly raised above the level of the patio.  So minor basement flooding is always a threat.  I have had to suck up incoming rainwater with the wet/dry shop vacuum.  So, as I have for several years now, I dug a small trench in the lawn to let the patio water flow downslope.  I keep telling myself that I should install a drainage pipe just below-ground, but it stays near the bottom of the To Do list; the trench works well enough...

At 2 pm, I brought trashcans into the garage, set out buckets to collect rainwater (for the Venus Fly Traps, brought flats of flower seedling inside so the strong winds wouldn't damage them, and filled  the trench with hose water to make sure it was flowing away from the patio.

The storm was scheduled to hit at 3:45, then 4:45 and it did rain at 4:45.  Drizzle for 15 minutes.  But the radar map showed other heavy rain coming later.  It drizzled another 15 minutes.

The radar map is clear now.  I got 1/4" of drizzle, no serious rain, no winds, no hail. I wanted that rain!  And there is no rain predicted for the rest of the week.

Which means I will have to water the gardens and flowerbeds deeply tomorrow.  I had put it off anticipating the heavy rain. 

I don't blame the weather forecasters too much.  It's tricky.  It would be one thing if a couple forecasters got it right most of the time, showing that it was a matter of individual skill.  But they are get it wrong together.  Which tells me it just can't be done very accurately by anyone.

But I sure wanted that rain!