One Weird Hail Storm
We hear of so many supposed rain storms that are approaching our area of parched California, we hardly pay attention now. I guess a good gully washer would be “News” if it were to actually happen but nothing of the sort has happened since fall 2014. It is another blog post but I don’t know where to begin to tell the story of the ranch…
This freak storm happened several days ago. Time flies during recovering from losing a couple more molars amongst other things. I’m fine, lovies.
Fine!
The only change was in the temperatures. It was cold, almost frosty for a few mornings. Not the best timing for the vineyards but we wouldn’t complain were we to get a little water out of those icy clouds!
As the skies got weirdly dark and colder still, we knew it wasn’t going to be rain drops we’d be seeing. It was simply too cold and being native Californians, we sort of smell rain if it’s in the air.
It smelled like thunder, one of my least favorite things.
The winds began to blow in several directions at once. I’ve seen that one other time to the same extreme. It culminated with one of our extremely rare little tornadoes. I bet you didn’t know tornadoes occur in the Bay Area. Albeit rarely. They are always small tho decades ago, one blew thru and destroyed thousands of chicken ranches and dairies.
Anyway I wasn’t worrying about tornadoes. I was recovering from my latest surgery of the oral kind. Suddenly the heavens burst open with a crash!
Dogs were quickly gathered up and brought in, very stinky doggies since they both need baths in a ridiculous way and they’d gotten caught with nowhere to hide. We DO get small hailstorms occasionally so I didn’t think much about it.
We have a metal roof and as I lay watching television, I realized it was hailing more than I’d noticed before. Farmer and farmer’s daughter were excitedly chattering down the hall so I thought I’d see what was happening beyond whatever scintillating show I was watching at the time or stinky doggies.
Seeing hailstones the size of marbles, I grabbed my camera and took a video of them as they bounced off the roof in all directions, landing in the courtyard. {Sadly I couldn’t post it.} The noise generated on the metal roof being hit by a deluge of ice balls (literal BALLS!), was enough to make us be quiet and simply listen!
If we talked, we had to shout to hear each other.
The chair seats outside began to fill up with a decent amount of little white frozen balls. Since it was cold, it didn’t immediately melt away like it usually would. It kept on coming down like this for several minutes along with the occasional rumble of thunder. Then it stopped, leaving ice everywhere. It lingered for an hour.
Strange….
Unfortunately we didn’t get much rain from this storm.
These are some of the photos I took after all the excitement had moved on over the hills…
“We love ~ That’s why life is full of so many wonderful gifts.” Rumi
Art, Photography and Text by L’Adelaide, ©CountryWomanPaints. All rights reserved.
11 Comments
Gretchen Del Rio
Life is like a box of chocolates……..Great picture you painted. I felt I was there too. I send my good wishes for a healthy mouth.😬
ĽAdelaide
Hi Gretchen… Isn’t it tho? Well, i guess that’s one way to see it 🙂 How’s the weather down there? Dry too?
Gretchen Del Rio
So dry😪
suzicate
I always find hailstorms to be odd; guess it’s because we rarely get them. I don’t like the sound of them. All the pinging makes me nervous and then when I see the dings in the cars or siding it’s annoying. I will say I’m thankful when all turns out safe. Hope you’re recovering well from your oral surgery.
ĽAdelaide
Hi Suzicate, Odd is such a good word for ice cubes falling on the ground from the sky!! 🙂 We didn’t have big stones so no dents that i could find anywhere–and that would be awful! Thanks for coming by and yes, i am doing ok! fingers are crossed with toes….
Mel
You really DID have a cold seat! Now that was an awesome photo. Of course these kind of storms are great fun cuz they’re bizarre to watch. And then we brave to inspect the damage….not so fun. They like to destroy young plants/flowers. But they ARE weird when they’re happening. I mean, you’re looking at the woman who replaced her roof for the 2nd time in less than 4 years…the hail was a bit bigger and lasted forever (seemed like it). And I spent the whole time saying “Oh nooo…” and feeling a bit heart sick cuz I knew we were in for a mess. I’m going to hope your mess wasn’t too traumatic, cuz the chair photo is too cool to file away cuz of the sadness from wreckage. And I REALLY hope that ‘no, really, I’m good’ was truthful. LOL. I know mine sometimes aren’t….*ahem*
ĽAdelaide
Hi Mel, Yes, isn’t that sort of cool? It’s certainly different! 🙂
We don’t have anything like “damage” tho and i feel for you having to pour money down an endless drain like that. Isn’t there some sort of homeowners insurance or is it so expensive, sort of earthquake insurance, nobody wants to buy it?! I did lose a few leaves and flower petals is about all… mostly it was a fine diversion for the afternoon. and got me out of bed!
and yes, things are moving right along. i’m tired and some pain, etc., mostly i’m irritable at being so tired. hoping that there will be a nice long break from all this now…. i need one. and so does my bank account. i might even put off til next spring if i can… we actually only get paid once a year so…. putting it off a year is all that matters to my bank account! 🙂
xox
susancrow
There’s nothing like a sharp sudden change in the weather to get everybody paying attention, eh? Were the dogs surprised when all those ice balls came pouring down? Your picture of the mile high clouds was wonderful, as are the others from the aftermath. I just hope there wasn’t any damage to the vines.
Our great piles of snow (briefly renewed last week) are finally beginning to sink into the earth. What was white, then grey, has become ugly, brown and cement-like. I’m looking forward to grass.
Hope you’re feeling a little better.
xoxo
ĽAdelaide
Well it sure did get everyone’s attention! 😀 It’s funny but having hail balls crashing onto the roof was a day changer because it was just plain weird. We get a little hail once in a blue moon but not bouncing marbles of the stuff. Glad you enjoyed the photos, it was fun running around trying to catch them before they melted away as i knew they would. And no issues with the vines but they’re below so might not have been as strong there.
The snow and it’s dirtiness is just so depressing to me. I am not sure that would work for me at all but if no choice, i guess one manages til spring finally comes, no? I keep sending you sunshine but apparently i have to amp it up some. 🙂 Keep looking forward to the grass, my dear. 😀
and i’m doing ok, better everyday… xoxox
heretherebespiders
It hails quite often in Ireland – any time of the year! Usually it is small, which is good. Once in Ohio I had hail that left dents in the car, that was sad. Well, a little water, even if frozen, is still a good thing around your parts.
ĽAdelaide
does it? i had no idea! i know it’s cold there at times…. yes, the hail in the us can be so destructive, i’d hate it. this was just fun 🙂