Stormy weather

Last evening our weather changed rather dramatically.

During the day yesterday it was mostly cloudy with a few brief periods of sunshine. But around 7:30 the sky and clouds appeared to be churning as the wind whipped up.

From about 8:00 last night to the present we've been having torrential downpours interspersed with periods of mild rain, and gusty, damaging winds.

If you listen carefully you can hear the trees crying from being bent and stretched by the winds. They've relinquished some of their branches and leaves, which have littered the streets and yards. The window screens rattle with almost every gust of wind, some of which has been measured locally at up to 55 mph.

All the rain is causing the creeks, streams, rivers, canals, and inlets to flood. On Spouse's way to work he cautiously crossed the small Canary Creek bridge which was completely covered by the overflowing creek. He heard many stories on the radio of similar flooding and power outages.

When he got to work he found the parking lot and walkway to his building completely under water. Reports from colleagues waiting in an adjacent commercial lot on higher ground were that their office building was also taking in water. Employees were sent home. (Photos were culled from the internet.)

Normally our dog Jordan can barely wait for her morning walk after eating breakfast, but today she squatted in the front yard, did her business, and promptly turned around and came back inside the house. Even she knew her morning walk was cancelled, due to the extreme weather.

The wind and rain are forecasted to diminish throughout the late afternoon/evening. Tomorrow should be sunny but breezy.

Crush du Jour: Pat Burrell