A Rude Awakening

I was awakened by the soft patter of rain on our rooftop about 4:45 this morning. I'm a fairly light sleeper most of the time, so I do hear things that are not normal.

I lay in bed for a while, listening to the sound of the gentle rain, then got up and went to the window to look out. I noticed our neighbor's dining room light on. That's normal. Monte gets up early many mornings as well.

I decided to return to bed and try to get more sleep. At bed time last night, there were tornado reports to our west, out near Bakersfield towards Ft. Stockton, and this was hanging in the back of my mind. Soon, the gentle pitter patter changed to something a little louder, and I was fearful of hail. About that time, a warning blasted on my phone. It indicated that a tornado had been spotted at Tankersley, which is only about 10 miles west of our home along US 67. So, I roused Donna from her deep sleep, and cautioned her to get dressed and put on solid shoes. I turned on the television to a local station, and then we sat and watched what our local meteorologists had to say.

The stormed moved right through San Angelo about 5:25 this morning. We had 80+ mph winds, but no real hail to my knowledge. We lost power about 5:45, and it remained off for about 2 hours. Otherwise, we escaped rather nicely. I emptied the rain gauge about 7:00, and it had just over 2 inches of rain.

After the power returned, another round of rain came, but I don't know how much we got this time. I guess I did not put the gauge back on securely when I replaced it after emptying it earlier, for when I went to check it, the gauge was gone. I'm sure we had at least another inch.

As the day rolls along, I'm sure I'll learn more about damage around the city. For now, all is well, though we are still in a flash flood watch.

Glad we aren't in an RV right now!