Wow, what a lead up to our thunderstorms last night! There was so much talk of this being a real severe weather event that I was sure we would see an MCS or supercells. During the day the wind blew violently, gusting up around 40-50mph all over the metroplex(DFW). By about 3pm 11,000+ folks were without power from the pre storm winds. I worried when I saw the sun come out. That was definitely not a good thing- adds to instability in the atmosphere adding to the potential for severe weather.
At about 3pm I could take it no longer. Even though there were no storms to see had to get out, so headed to the lake. There I met 2 very worried Mallards, a pair. They were having trouble standing because of the wind. When I spoke to them they came near so I sat on a piece of concrete curbing, wrapped my arms around my knees and just sat a while. The little female came over and settled down beside me. The male made me laugh- he settled at the front of my car looking up into the front bumper where he could see his own reflection. He was quacking away at it :) Finally he came over and settled beside me too. They seemed to want company and were less afraid of me than of the wind- the gusts were very strong. After about 15-20 minutes they began a conversation- a real back and forth. And suddenly, for no apparent reason, they both got up and flew off. Must have been deciding where to head next!
I moved on too and found the location with all the incredible waves. Haven't seen the lake that wild since hurricane Ike blew through. It was exhilarating, standing in the wind with the sound of the waves. But couldn't help but wonder what was coming if the onset was this crazy. Soon found out. Waited around for the leading edge- it was an outflow boundary, and a weak one at that. Watched the sky turn deep purple and then just as you'd expect from a water laden sky- plop! Rain began to fall. The wind dropped, the rain came down in big drops, and there was very little lightning. Disappointed, I drove home in the rain and pulled up the radar to see what happened. The main event hadn't arrived. And looking out the slider I saw distant lightning. Got set up in time to begin shooting. Unfortunately I missed some of the closest lightnings ever. They couldn't have been but a few blocks away- flash/bang very nearly the same time. But for all my attempts couldn't get but the one shot of it arching up over the house. That's the one that made me get the remote for the rest of the session.
What a night! It went on all night and I really did try to sleep, but wanted to get up and take more pictures- don't get good storms like that very often! Woke up around 4am and it was still carrying on! Didn't quit until about 7-8am! Lots of in cloud lightning!
This could have been so much worse! When I say worse I'm talking life threatening, property damaging worse. Once again God has spared DFW tornadoes. I hope and pray that there is some effort made in the next few years to make shelters for people to use. There is no provision for folks living in apartment complexes, and few homes have them. A tornado outbreak over the Metroplex would be disastrous! So I'm forever praying the Lord to spare us, and He has.
Today went to the lake to see what the rain did, and wow! Those boat ramps under water are crazy! They're docks- will be when the water goes down. There're flowers everywhere and beautiful green grass- that was a rarity last year! How wonderful it is to have plenty of water.
Totally shocked to have a Great Blue Heron come right past me, unconcerned. Got 2 shots and it just kept on about its business. Amazing, only about 15' away! Ducks swimming in wildflowers, fish jumping here and there, frogs singing, crickets singing- wow!
Tonight went back for the sunset. To my utter surprise there were 2 Canada Geese! Never seen them at the lake before. Wonder if they got lost in the storm and set down here. Also saw some Canvasback Ducks are still with us, and there are still some Coots around. The place is alive with all kinds of birds. There's a hoard of Redwing Blackbirds that fill the air with their wonderful cries. Spring! What a wonderful time of year!
