Bad Weather....again

I thought when winter was over I wouldn't have to whine about the weather anymore. Well, surprise! Here I am again....whining. Iowa has literally been pounded with bad weather this spring. Rain, thunder, lightening, wind, hail, tornadoes. We are on our way to setting a record for most tornadoes in any spring. The previous record was 1,280.; we're almost there. We're already 3 inches above normal for rainfall. If you've kept track of the weather news, then you know that Parkersburg, Iowa was leveled two weeks ago by an EF 5 tornado...the strongest the weather service records. Last night this bad weather really hit home. I was awake on and off all night as it crashed and flashed and poured rain. When I got up at 5:30am and looked out the window, I thought the backyard looked a little funny. As it got light enough to see, I realized what the funny thing was....water from my creek. If you've been to Red Bell Farm, you know that a small creek runs behind my house. Normally, it is ankle-deep in the summer, wade-able, and at the bottom of an 8 foot drop off. You also know that from the bank of the creek there is a gentle slope upwards to my back porch. This was the view this morning from that back porch! That's Haybranch Creek flowing thru my back yard. The road to the north had water running across it, and I worried that the road south, my route into work, might also be under water. Fortunately, it wasn't.

The creek falls almost as fast as it rises, so by the time I left for work an hour later, it looked like this. I could already see grass where an hour before I could only see water. I measured 4 inches of rain in a flat-bottomed basin sitting next to the porch. I heard on the TV that East Peru, just south of me measured almost 7 inches of rain overnight! By the time I got home this afternoon, the water had subsided a lot. The creek is still out of its banks by the corner of the corral, tho. The bad news is....it's forecast to do the same thing tonight...driving rain, hail, thunder, lightening and possibly tornadoes again. It might be a long, sleepless night. Think good thoughts for me, Lucie and Sissy.