Thanks for the rain, but...

[Impetus]

I've never seen a drier summer since we moved here four years ago, the grass turned brown is areas and we've actually had to water it for the first time.
We're on well water, and thus the watering ban is not applicable here and we're sitting on a huge aquafer so we've never had an issue with supply.
We even have rain barrels on our downspouts to collect rainwater so we don't waste electricity pumping from the well. They've been pretty much empty all summer for the first time.

The last few days have given us some relief though, the rain barrels are full, the lawn has turned green again, and we haven't had to water for some time.

This is also the first year we've cultivated the 750sq ft vegetable patch which has been left to fallow for the past five years or so, so we've got a hose run out to it for watering.

Well, last night I'm getting ready for bed and this wicked thunderstorm rolled in. First, the satellite TV goes out, and a quick check of the e-mail reveals the internet (wireless ISP) is down. Fortunately we didn't lose power.

All of a sudden, a roar like I've never heard erupts. Hail the size of dimes is battering our steel roof and the windows. So my first thought is to go pull the tarp over the veggie garden and protect our crop from devastation. I tried to run out there but the sheer volume of hail literally beat me down to the ground! The hail wasn't just falling, it had a force driving it down to the ground faster than terminal velocity.
Here I am in my shorts, battered and soaked to the bone taking shelter under the studio entrance, which is about 15' from the house. I got it again making the dash back to the house.

I went out this morning and lo and behold...it missed the veggie garden entirely! It olbiterated some annuals near the deck but missed the veggie patch out back!

I hear other areas got tornados!

This is after waking up yesterday with the power out after another wicked overnight thunderbanger. We had to flee into town to have coffee and breakfast and the power was out until 11AM.

Anyone else in Ontario get whacked? I hear Aurora's power is still out from last night's storm. Aurora is about 30 minutes drive from here.

Muz

 

[55Mercury]

It was an act of God!

And I had Him spare your garden because He works for me... and He knows I get hungry... and He likes to feed me... but He also knows I think dimpled pates and zildjian steel roofs look cool, so I let Him get ya good. lol

I hope you wore your hardhat, Muz!

We got thorougly soaked here, but no hail that I've heard about so far.

 

[IdRatherBeSkiing]

We had one T-storm, a very minor one, in the morning. It spit rain on and off all day but nothing really big. The sky looked wierd all day though. Clouds you normally see on days you get big T-storms.

What you need is an automatic retractable tarp which can be activated by the touch of a button.

P.S. Did you sat dish get damaged? Or was it temporary?

 

[Impetus]

Amazingly enough, neither the sat disk nor the wireless ISP antenna were damaged.

I was particularly concerned about the Magnum, but it didn't even have a rain spot on it...I waxed it enough...
It was like the hail only hit the house and deck area...weird!

A few tree limbs fell and the pond overflowed.

Muz

We had one T-storm, a very minor one, in the morning. It spit rain on and off all day but nothing really big. The sky looked wierd all day though. Clouds you normally see on days you get big T-storms.

What you need is an automatic retractable tarp which can be activated by the touch of a button.

P.S. Did you sat dish get damaged? Or was it temporary?

 

[Unforgiven]

Oh we don't get stuff like that here.

I was down at the lake yesterday with the Guinness and down by the water you could feel the hot and cold patches sweeping by. I could tell something was happening by the buildup over the lake and to the north west. Glad to hear you didn't get any damage.

 

[Brat]

Not a freakin drop here.
I wish we would get some rain. I'm afraid to take the dog into the backyard. The cracks are so wide, I'm afraid she'll fall in. It's a good thing she's a big dog.