Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Mom Nature Roars




Most of the time, the little village of Bayview ducks the serious storms. Air currents that separates the systems, brought about by Mt. Spokane, and perhaps Rathdrum Mountain, tend to split weather. Whether Summer or winter, the pattern stays the same. ... Most of the time,Storms either pass to the north of Bayview, or south behind Bernard Peak and on to the North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River.

Not so today.We in Bayview, got caught in a direct hit of a series of cells that were/are feeding from southwest to northeast and coincidentally, are passing directly across Bayview and of course, Athol. Gravel has spilled out onto the roadways from Athol to the end of Cape Horn in Bayview. Rock falls at the slide area of a few years ago are again harassing motorists passing through.

It all started about 5:00 pm. A serious thunderstorm hit Bayview, after devastating Athol and Silverwood, too.It was a direct hit. Typically, a thunderstorm has a relative calm center, with most of the heavy rain/hail and winds around the periphery. With a direct hit, we received heavy rain, then a relative calm with sprinkles, then the back end hit with a vengeance. Silverwood Theme Park, faced with the inevitable, shut down about 8:30pm

The sun came out then, but only for a little while. Around 7:00 pm a dark, almost purple cloud formation came at us, this time with much more fury. Lights went out, satellite TV went out and as of 9:30 pm, calm has enveloped this little water born community. Idaho tends to be a state with weather extremes, but luckily not like the midwest, where tornadoes roar through the flat open spaces. We do, however, have our moments, and tonight was one of them. Trees are down actross local roads, and extreme caution is advised while driving.

2 comments:

BayviewBob said...

That is the most rain I have seen here. 2.93 inches yesterday.

At one time I recorded a rain/rate of over 4 inches per hour.

That is really coming down!

http://www.bayview-idaho.com/weather/wxtrends.php

Anonymous said...

... and a river runs through it, or so I thought that particular evening as we watched water pool in our back yard and seep into our living room. I have lived in areas where rain will come down like we experienced that evening, this was totally unexpected.

Norma Jean