Weather (and vacations)

[ducks4you]

I JUST got back from vacationing in the Black Hills, SD. I thought I'd check to see if anybody else had damage from the violent weather the last week in May. Here are some articles about May 24th in particular~

http://www.ksfy.com/news/local/94797294.html
http://celebrifi.com/gossip/Deadly-...caught-on-Video-by-Storm-Chasers-2548674.html
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/292418\
Here we are, camping with our horses, getting way more rain than we had counted on. I went to the campground "bunkhouse" on the morning of the 24th to check weather.com. There was a severe storm/tornado watch predicted, that was the width of the Dakotas and ran from Canada to Mexico. I went to check hour-by-hour and they predicted violent storms to begin at 1 PM. Sure as shootin' they did. We had torrential showers with intermittant pea size to quarter size hail. It cleared a bit around 5 pm, they took up again at 9 pm. I don't remember WHEN the 50 mph+ winds with spitting rain stopped, but I did wake up to a clear sky at 3 AM. This was a 14-15 hour mammoth storm.
In Hot Springs, SD they had softball sized hail with great damage. On May 26th, East of Denver had worse--they took out their snowplows to clear the roads of hail.
So...
is everybody all right?

 

[journey11]

Sorry to hear your trip got rained out. I love to tent camp, but only recently figured out to bring a TARP. Nothing worse than being soggy and cold in the great outdoors. Glad to hear you were safe!

 

[ducks4you]

Thanks, journey11!!
We've been tent-camping for many years. We use canvas tents because they shed water. DD's were staying in a large A-frame. I told them to strip their bedding that morning and stash it in their car. DD and I were sleeping in the living quarters of our gooseneck trailer, but MY side of the bed was leaking. OF COURSE all of the tents, the A-frame, the Baker and the fly, went down in the storm.
Youngest daughter slept in the back seat of the truck that night. Oldest daughter and I slept in HER car. DH slept in the dry part of our bed.
After the storm, we put up a clothes line for drying and took our flannel sheets to the camp's dryers. By the end of the week we had summertime weather, and all-in-all we had a good time, and the horses lived through it without being hurt, though the hail made "Buster" dance!
I just wondered if anybody here had storm damage. THAT storm would have flattened your garden with the hail.

 

[vfem]

Wow... should have made some storm chaser videos and profited from the experience!!!

No really, I'm sorry that is how a planned vacation went...