When we got serious rain, Mother Nature didn't wimp out, and give us some namby pamby drenching wanna-be.
She threw everything, including the kitchen sink, at us: Lightening, Thunder, Black Clouds, more rain than any drain could handle, even marble-sized hail, and sometimes snow, in the cities, as far south as the 10 Fwy., not to mention winds like you wouldn't believe!
I loved it!
Maybe only once, in the 7+ years I've lived here in Orange County, have I seen anything close to those experiences, until today. ;-D
The only difference was that I only heard 1 roll of thunder, and the deluge only lasted about 45 minutes, instead of all day, or all night, long.
My ATT Cable Guy had just left to go out to his truck for a conference call before resuming the install, when the rain that had been steadily coming down sudddenly got a hell of a lot heavier.
It was 1230pm.
The above photo is looking out my 2nd floor window onto the "street" that runs past our building, & the 1st floor garages on the south side of our complex, and between the complex beyond the fence.
It was almost 1pm.
I went out onto the 2nd floor walk, and looked down on a river along the walkway below, and a lake out in the parking lot beyond.
What I saw blew me away and I, and my neighbors, stood there in awe as the rain just kept on coming.
105pm, and we watched as several cars safely navigated the lake, while several others stalled, and had to be pushed across the lake, to a parking spot, so as not to block traffic.
People walking out in this found the water up past their ankles, and the cars, well, see for yourself.
There are 2 drains out front: One beyond the wall, in the upper right corner of the 1st picture, and another, just on our side of the entrance, in the upper left of the 2nd photo.
Both were overwhelmed by the deluge, thus causing all our flood problems out front, and in the south side of the complex.
115pm.
The rain was beginning to wind down by now.
The walkway below my building was completely flooded, with water rising, a foot, to touch the 1st step up to the 2nd floor.
I was tempted to wade out in it, as you can see, but ultimately decided against it since I can't swim a lick. ;-D
120pm.
I took another look out my window, and saw a river.
122pm.
When a car sped, instead of crawled, up stream, you can see just how deep the water was by the waves that were made by its passing.
The rain finally subsided, completely, by 130pm.
330pm.
Eventually the drains accepted the water, and I think someone sent a Dove out, somewhere, to search for dry land . ;-D
Me?
I bravely strolled out into what was formerly a lake...
and what had been a raging river all the way back to that wall in the distance. ;-D
How high was the water in the river?
This is in the back of the garage closest to the front of our building, near where the river emptied out into the lake.
The top of the water line, on that box, is about 2ft., maybe a little more, off the ground. ;-D
Later in the evening, watching the local news, I learned what brought the deluge.
A Tornado, or Tornado-like conditions, struck the coast, at Seal Beach, 4 miles northwest of Huntington Beach, where my sister lives, and 10 miles from my home, in Santa Ana.
The rain from this headed east, passing through us, on its merry way into Riverside County, and the Inland Empire. ;-D
The weather folks were claiming that the 3rd storm, due Wednesday Afternoon, and the 4th, Thursday, afternoon, would be worse than this.
Really?
Bring it on! ;-D
Previous entry in this series:
Monday: It's raining, it's pouring!
Part 3: It's raining, it's pouring! Day 3: Scenes from a Work Commute
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