A neighbor appears out of nowhere and asks "Do you need help?" I respond that the ratchet is jammed and we both try to free it. Nothing, still. The neighbor goes to the other side of the awning and grabs the strut as a particularly violent gust catches the awning and nearly rips it off the side of the RV. But that intense gust and the resulting awning excursion apparently freed the jammed ratchet and we were able to let the awning retract to its stowed position. I breathed a sigh of relief, the neighbor sez "you lucked out!" and I agreed. I dodged about a one-thousand-Yankee-Dollar bullet there. And the storm had not yet reached full intensity... we were just feeling the leading edge of it.
So, after catching my breath and saying a few quiet "Thank-Yous" to The Deity at Hand I went inside and fetched the MinoHD to record this:
The video will eventually be available in HD (in about an hour from posting time), and viewing the vid in full-screen HD will be the best way to get the full effect. This was literally the absolute WORST wind storm I've ever seen since I've been in P-Ville. All my neighbors agree, as we had a middle-of-the-street consultation and an "are you OK?" session about an hour after the worst had passed.
Bonus:
Embryonic Mammatus clouds! And a post-storm view of P-Ville.Update, later that same day (evening):
The image is a screen-cap from Weather Underground (click for larger). Note the wind speed and wind gust values. It looks like my neighbor Chris' brother was right on the money: Gusts of 69 mph. 58 mph steady winds ain't no slouch in the Wind Dept, either.
Whoa! Looking forward to the full screen HD! Very cool. Love your narrative!
ReplyDeleteWOW - Indeed!
ReplyDeleteglad you are all ok!
Lori: The HD was available when you visited... you have to click the red "HD" icon once you hit play (it's not visible BEFORE you begin the vid, for some strange reason), and then the full screen icon.
ReplyDeleteAs for my narrative... I was just stunned at the intensity of it all. I didn't video it, but I stepped out from beside the RV (where I was sheltered from the wind) to go retrieve my grill cover which had blown away and was almost blown over. I'm NOT kidding... it was difficult to stand up.
Cynthia: Thanks!!
So, what we in the naval service call a fresh breeze blew through your manse and almost blew off the canopy. Shocking! Flimsy ratchet mechanism no doubt. Should be up to withstanding at least aa storm or even a gale. :)
ReplyDeleteSorry. Couldn't resist! :) I live in San Diego and every time I see that picture of storm damage in San Diego (blown over plastic garden chair, I still laugh.
Gladdened to see that you survived the storm intact. I had one of these hit me once tied up in Bahrain. A shamal came out of nowhere and we parted our mooring lines and were preparing to get underway in restricted maneuvering under the worst conditions imaginable.
regards,
Wow! That poor bush!
ReplyDeleteBut, those clouds!!! It looks like you can see the start of their formation in the first photo.
Did they form at the end of the storm or ??
Curtis: Thanks for dropping by. I'm quite sure my lil encounter yesterday was nothing compared to trying to get underway in a storm.
ReplyDeleteAnn: That bush is a small TREE. Scroll down to my July 6th entry to see what it looks like on a calm day.
The mammatus clouds formed at the end of the storm... and dissipated QUITE rapidly. I was lucky to get the pic. From the Wiki:
When occurring in cumulonimbus, mammatus are often indicative of a particularly strong storm or maybe even a tornadic storm. These tend to form more often during warm months and over the midwest and eastern portions of the United States, and more infrequently over the west and southwest.
Moogie: "Yikes!" ain't the word, LOL!
Wow! Glad you were in a sheltered area Buck - a good strong wind could definitely take you away from us.
ReplyDeleteI wonder about that large trailer right underneath the huge tree - do people live there and if so - are they cah-razy?!
These are some sturdy and very healthy old trees, Kris. There's one just like the one in the vid that arches over El Casa Móvil De Pennington. I have to go up on the roof occasionally and cut back branches so they don't dig holes in the roof, but I can't see the thing falling. I don't discount falling debris and branches, though!
ReplyDeleteWow, Buck - finally something respectable to call part of our monsoon season! I mean that's more like it - I expected to see some thatched roof parts sail by. I even got to see some guy's neck blow by in the first part (oh Buck, don't they have a big white arrow to show you what direction to point the camera?) I know, I know, it was an adrenalin thing under the circumstances ... a moment of Buck Fever, quite literally.
ReplyDeleteSo glad the neighbor was there to help with the awning or it would have been gone, gone, gone. That happened here a few weeks ago, the day after the guys unstrapped the building supplies on the big trailer. I got to watch 4x8 sheets of stuff and large pieces of corrugate roofing flip off and somersault off the trailer like a deck of cards being dealt.
And I didn't think to grab my camera - that was one fine video report you did there!
Thanks, Lin... and yeah, I had a moment of adrenaline-induced confusion as to which way was up on the camera. I'm just glad the thing was fully-charged and ready to go! :D
ReplyDeleteAs for your flying supplies... this is one part of the world where one must absolutely, positively check the weather report before handling things that might go airborne! Coz they DO...
We spent the weekend in Lubbock and missed Friday's storm. But news said that W. of Lubbock had 80-90 MPH winds. We drove home that way and saw lots of cotton fields in ruins from hail and some building damage. That really sucks for those farmers, as it's too late to plant anything else now.
ReplyDeleteGlad that the awning survived. Did you get anything last night?
re: last night. Not much, here... lotsa noise, a little bit of wind, and even less rain. There aren't any puddles on the ground this morning. But Friday sure was wild! Sounds like it was wild west of Lubbock, too. I, too, feel bad for the farmers. Crop insurance may help, but it ain't the same...
ReplyDeleteWow, that was some storm. I'm sure with the stuck awning and wind howling, things got pretty exciting. Excellent writing - had me on the edge of my seat.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Lou.
ReplyDelete"Lori: The HD was available when you visited..."
ReplyDeleteSo it was! I was a little ... altered ... when I first viewed the vid. : )
Wow. That was intense! I felt my adrenaline pumping just from watching, I can only imagine how YOU felt!
ReplyDeleteGlad you made it through okay with property intact.
And those clouds look freaky, never seen those before in my life.
Lori: Heh. :D
ReplyDeleteChristina: Thank ya! Those mammatus clouds are VERY rare. As I said in the post, Friday was the first time I'd ever seen them... and I've been around the block a few times.
I'm a weather junkie myself. That was my first college degree and still my first love, though I don't work in that field.
ReplyDeleteI got me one of those weather stations with the anemometer, indoor/outdoor thermometer and humidity sensors, barometer, trending, history, rain gauge, psuedo-forecaster, and atomic clock, to boot. Love it. The cheap ones are around $90 ... and that's what I have.
Mamatus are cool. We get them around here several times a year. Always a good photo op, especially with sunrise or sunset light on them.
From what I read mammatus clouds are much more common in your part of the world, Phil. As noted above... last Friday was the my first time. But I have seen some spectacular pics of 'em elsewhere in the past and have always wanted to see 'em for myself. And now I have.
ReplyDelete