Checked the weather forecast this morning and found a big threat due at the end of the day. Decided to make an Alpine run to stock up...just in case. Watched a big black cloud follow me back to the Field Lab late this afternoon. I wasn't home but about 45 minutes when it hit. From 5 to 7PM we got 1.33" of rain with almost golf ball size hail and a maximum wind speed of 68.5mph. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DzBiGmk9WY0 Shredded a few cosmetic items here and there, took out my other two wind turbines, and busted the glass on my solar oven, but the house and solar panels held up like a champ. On the upside...I pumped another 2400 gallons into storage. Checked in with all my neighbors and everyone survived with flying colors - including Benita who came in after the rain for dinner. I got a feeling my road didn't do as well. Looks like tomorrow will be a clean up day - including looking for pieces of wind turbine blades...
10 comments:
Looking at the video of the storm, and the pictures of the aftermath, I can almost catch that luscious humid caliche smell coming up off the ground.
What a privilege to experience such a drenching storm in the desert. Here in Vancouver we haven't had rain for weeks, except for a little sprinkle a few days ago.
Hey JW
Glad that you're OK! That was some storm. Hope your truck survived! I guess one of the upsides to this is that you weren't caught with your Trusses half up. I am sure this has caused some closer looks at your design criteria. Might need to design a cover for the oven. As you already know, timing on the truss setting will be important. Wish I were closer to give you a hand on the cleanup. I think I see why the old style water pump windmills were built so stout. It makes me wonder where & How the longhorns survive something like this??? Good Luck with the clean up.
Terlingua Ranch weather can become very violent and windy. Once on a spring trip to the ranch, I saw an area of land simply covered in what looked like snow. Upon a closer look, we found out that it was actually piles and piles of large hail stones. When we got to our hunt cabin, we found a lot of hail damage to glass windows and our travel trailer was covered in small dents from the hail.The vinyl gutters on our roof to catch water were simply shredded. The vinyl gutters do not hold up well on Terlingua Ranch as after about eight years they become very brittle due to the intense sunlight at the ranch. we replaced them with galvanized steel gutters.Don
Hi John
Looks like it was quite a storm, bummer about the damages! Hope the clean up and repairs arent to bad. Really enjoy looking at your blog and photos everyday and the progress on your compound.
Malcolm
From the way I look at it, it's just another test of the "desert gods on the "city slicker". Hail gods and wind gods working together can create havoc. Of course old rain god has to throw in her 2 cents.
I see very little damage other than the expense and labor to put stuff back together and clean up the back yard. Nice break from the intense work of building trusses.
Ya could go down to the beach and lay in the pond if you left some water in it.
jw
was wondering if that bad boy got ya , so question answered !
I watched the Doppler yesterday and was thinking , maybe he will finally get that 2 incher I was telling him about,
looks just a little short, now you know what I was asking ya about when I visited ! the rainy season starts up with a vengeance
sorry ya lost some gear ,the oven is a real bummer, and turbines blades ? your getting pretty good replacing them by now.
looks like some cooler temps today!
.bb
always need the rain
but
ouch!
Whoosh, Bang, Slosh!
This just in, "The Field Lab" takes a pounding, lives to tell the tale. Survivors left to pick up the pieces. Full story, and video at eleven.
Thanks for posting the video and letting us share a little bit of the storm. I truly enjoy witnessing the awesome power of nature. Sad to think of Benita and other creatures being pounded on by that hail, though.
John, I'd never considered hail as a problem for wind turbines. I hope you publish a picture or two of the damage. Can't the blades be more flexible or perhaps they should be stronger?
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