And the Rain Fell

The local weather people predicted over 2 inches of rain for the week and highs on Wednesday and Thursday around 70 degrees or so. They underestimated things, and I'm glad they did.

Donna and I sat out late Tuesday and watched the clouds moving into the area. To the east, we could see a storm system moving from south to north and a clear line of rain falling. We hoped this was an omen of good things to come, and it must have been.

On Tuesday, clouds began building. About halfway between the light pole and the left edge of the picture, you can see the vertical rain line. From there to the right (south), someone is getting rain, perhaps the farming community of Wall.

Wednesday morning about 2:00 AM, the rain began to fall, sometimes rather heavily. Rain fell steadily all morning and into the early afternoon before stopping. At that time, I measured almost 2¾ inches of rain (see pic below). What a true blessing for this dry country. The high for the day never got above 55 degrees that I was aware of.

Rain gauge showing almost 2.75 inches of rain

Donna and I put on jackets and sat on our back patio for a very long time enjoying the cool weather and the soaking rain. For those of you who live in climates that receive lots of rain, you must think we are odd. But long, soaking rains are a true rarity in this parched land. It's a real treat when we get so much rain.

When we awoke Thursday morning, the temperature was in the low 50s, but it was dry. However, just before 8:00 AM, the rain began again. It seemed to rain throughout the rest of the day and into Thursday night. When I woke this morning (Friday), the streets were wet, and my rain gauge measured about 1¾ inches. Add that to the previous day and we have a total of about 4½ inches of rain. Gosh, that is about a fourth of our total annual rainfall in a little more than 2 days. I wish the folks along the Pacific coast could get this rain to put out those fires.

As the week started, the weather folks predicted less than 3 inches of precipitation for San Angelo, so they were almost 2 inches off there; they predicted highs around 70 each day, but I was never aware of the temperature rising above 55 or so. Does that upset me that they missed the forecast? Not one bit. We loved it. We turned the AC completely off, and the indoor temp never dropped below 73, even with a window or two open.

I'll be watching area lake totals over the next few days to see how they improve, and I'm sure there will be some good improvement. The little town of Robert Lee just to our north received about 7 inches of rain, while Eldorado to our south received about the same amount. Both of those areas are in watersheds that feed area lakes, so I'm optimistic that lake levels will rise impressively.

In addition to the above, Donna celebrated another birthday. I'd tell you her age, but I lost count years ago. I really never learned to count that high. Courtney and her husband gave her an Amazon Prime membership, so we are going to be exploring the possibilities in that soon. Thanks, Courtney and Michael, for the thoughtful and very useful gift; it's perfect for the times are we currently living in.

Be safe out there.