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A Monster Spring Storm is Smacking Us....
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A Monster Spring Storm is Smacking Us.... The weather people in Palm Springs have been warning the whole desert area for the past two days, that a monster Spring Storm is on it's way down the coast from the Gulf of Alaska. This morning was calm, without a hint of wind, and the sun was shining brightly. As I write this post the wind is hitting about 40 knots, and it's expected to hit gusts of 70 MPH this evening and tomorrow... Snow is expected starting at about the 3000 foot level, so we won't get that stuff--which I dislike intensely--but we may get some rain. Mostly we'll just get that devil wind that likes to blow anything that's even remotely loose into the next county.. Be alert those of you in the Midwest, These storms starting here and then heading inland always bring chaos to your part of the country in the form of strong twisters and sometimes flooding rains.   |
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We had the longest thunderstorm here last night that I have ever seen. It lasted for 3 hours. I can usually sleep during a storm, but this one kept me awake. I actually love them. About the only times we've ever had thunderstorms has been during the August monsoons. Once, lightning knocked out the transformer on the power pole giving us electricity, and also ruined 3 electrical breakers that controlled the circuits going into our kitchen. When I installed the circuits and water system, I used copper pipe to connect the bathroom and kitchen water to the 2100 gallon underground storage tank where our fresh water is stored.. That copper line is probably what allowed most of the lightning strike to dissipate and not catch our place on fire.. The electrical service entrance I put in at that time, also has an eight foot long, solid copper grounding rod attached, but I think that would have simply burned through if it hadn't been for the heavy 3/4 inch copper water line.. I'm so happy you're back on this site, Maddy...
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We had the longest thunderstorm here last night that I have ever seen. It lasted for 3 hours. I can usually sleep during a storm, but this one kept me awake. I actually love them. "Don't cry because it's over; smile because it happened." 
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What a small country and how nice that is! I had no idea you knew anything about this area. We love the summer nights too. We like to take long walks around midnight and feel the presence of living things all around us.. Incidentally, that's a long drive between Pendleton and 29 Palms!
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The area where we live in the high desert North of 29 Palms is considered a wasteland. We're fortunate because the North side of our property, on the other side of our fence, belongs to the Marine Corps. They only use hundreds of acres there as a buffer zone, and they have a barbed wire fence a few hundred feet from us. Another lucky thing for us is that I can call the Provost Marshall on the base for help with intruders. The local sheriff's deputies don't know how to get here, and if they manage to, their squad cars usually end up getting stuck in the sand. The Provost Marshall kids are here in an instant. We have some old friends who've lived here for a few years, but I'm the one that's been here the longest. Marisol has young friends on the base because she worked there for 31 years... Started right out of high school..She retired last summer when she turned 50. Most people who visit come during the winter. 120 degree heat that we sometimes get in July is not for everyone. Probably only 1 in 20 people like the desert, but Marisol and I grew up weird and twisted and we love it here.... But I DO miss the excitement sometimes, when I lived in the cheap area of Hollywood and walked those streets...
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That's so sweet of you to wish M. luck in getting home Ok, Charmaine! Yes, she made it home shortly after I wrote this post. The howling wind was coming from the West, and she was traveling East until coming to our cutoff to the North. The desert here is mostly flat and open, so during Spring when we get most of our wind storms the wind can really pick up a lot of speed without being blocked by much. When I first bought this place, I was able to buy an old Bulldozer about a year later, and built a berm made from sand and rocks ten feet high on the Northwest of our property and it still does a great job of causing most of the really strong wind gusts to pass over the roof of our place.
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During this particular year, where we've gotten twice the normal amount of rainfall, Southern California has been getting Seattle's weather. The Jet Stream, probably influenced by the heating of the world's oceans has been dipping down the coast of the Western U. S. and diving inland around Southern California. Thus. Alaska weather here. I know one thing, I'm writing this comment to you at around 4 in the AM, and for this time of year, it's cold outside! I know there's a small difference in speed between knots and mph. But the difference isn't large enough for little ole' me to ponder very much. , lol.
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Cali., I'm afraid is now, what was a luscious grape, that's turned into a raisin. The politicians have even closed many of the bathrooms on the beaches for lack of money. We're lucky the storms aren't influenced by money, at least in their arrival here. But it takes big bucks to repair the damage after they've blown inland. I haven't been to the APPLE now in a long, long time. Too many people for my peace of mind, and the idea of Man-made storms is pretty scary. 
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This is a big time storm that's hitting us now. I've bolted and tied everything down outside, and the two dogs are inside, identical to how they were in this picture I snapped a few months ago. The temperature is dropping rapidly and I just switched on the electric heat. I hope the electricity stays on. Many times these storms knock down the power lines.... I think I'll start cooking something for an early supper just in case the power does go off. We have a little Honda alternator/generator, but I hate going to all the trouble of putting in gasoline and hooking it up. M. is in Joshua Tree and is now heading back here, with her little white truck being beaten up by the wind.
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