Burning Off

Today dawned a foggy day in Lubbock. Fog is not the norm for this part of the world, but it obviously does occur from time to time.  Today, by 10 AM it was still foggy, although, from time to time, the sun was visible through the fog.  So, it was apparent that the fog would "burn off" at some point, and we might even have a fine sunny day.

Well, that is what happened.  I went to lunch a little before noon, at a local restaurant, and when I left a little after 1 PM, it was a gorgeous, bright sunny day.  I had thought, if the day was at all pretty, that I would get some work done in the yard. Well, low and behold, I was able to accomplish everything I had planned to work on today!

While I was working, I decided it was a pretty enough day, that I would go kayaking.   I knew the water would be cold, but the gorgeous warm sun would more than make up for that.  I even called friend and left a message about my plan, in case she wanted to join me.

Well, after I finished the yard work, I looked up and saw storm clouds to the west.   I went inside to check The Weather Channel, and while I was waiting for the programming to return from a commercial, my weather radio sounded an alert.  This part of the country was under a severe thunderstorm watch.  Which may or may not mean we will have a storm. But, it does mean a storm could occur very quickly, and in addition to possible rain, thunder and lightning, a severe thunderstorm watch means we could experience hail and strong winds.  Well, the lake I planned to kayak at is small, but I had no desire to be on any lake if such a storm blew in.  I cancelled my plans, and left a message with my friend to that effect. I could already tell the wind had changed, an indicator we might experience a storm.

I was right to change my plans.  Less than two hours later, when I would have still been out on the water, it started to rain.  The drops were big and heavy, sounding like hail, but they were not. However, I could hear the thunder, although I never did see lightning.  The rain came in spurts, drops that barely wet the ground, then it stopped. The thunder was intermittent.  There was hail up to quarter size, but very little, at one point.   It was a wise decision not to go kayaking.