Well, historically this area is supposed to have the 2nd highest rainfall in
North America. However there has been a drought for the past ten years or so up
in these mountains. Summer before last the farmers were selling their cattle
because they could not water them. That seems to have ended. This was the 2nd
such storm I was in today, only the first was while I was out driving. You had
to slow down to 25mph, or so because the rain was so heavy. Luckily the storms
are of fairly short duration or there would be a lot of flooding here.
--
Joseph Tainter wrote:
Well...was the camera okay?
Seriously, my sympathies for your experience, and glad you came through.
I've done a lot of high eleveation fieldwork here in New Mexico. Summer
storms can pop up just the same way. One moment you are shedding sweat,
then a few minutes later its hypothermia. Sometimes there's no place to
go. You just crouch to make as low a target as possible for the
lightning. The rain usually eases up in a few minutes...except for the
times that it doesn't.
If the climate continues to warm, such storms as you experienced will
become more common. A warmer atmosphere has more energy, which means
more violent storms.
Joe
--
graywolf
http://graywolfphoto.com/graywolf.html
