Thunder,Lightening,Wind,Hail,Flash Flooding

It was a jolt from sleep. Normally, I hear muffled rumbles of thunder and weak flashes of light if  I wake up at all. Last night was something else. The roars of thunder were astonishing as was the flashes of lightening that lit up my bedroom through blackout drapes. It was so unusual, I grabbed my phone and checked the NBC weather App to see a line of storms covering the Metroplex all the way back to Abilene. As it was, tornadoes hit Franklin, Texas south of Dallas.

 While it wasn't as bad sounding after the initial jolt, it still could be heard enough that I cap napped for another two hours before finally giving in to a return to sleep. I slept beyond my usual time to wake up by over an hour and that was interrupted with yet another round of rowdy thunder and lightening. Had that not happened, I might have slept to noon.

It was closer to two before I got out of the house with umbrella in hand. And a troublesome tire picked today to be the day to split at the shoulder and was nearly flat. So, my first stop was to the friendly tire shop to get a new tire. Some days are just filled with surprises and I deal with them as they come up. There is no need to worry about things that you cannot control.

There were still several weather hazards still active of which one was a flash flood warning for White Rock Creek. That is always one that will bring me to the lake even if I hadn't planned on going. The flow of White Rock Creek is like a river, not a creek, and  in the summer, the Trinity River is more like a creek than a river. It's one of those misnomers that is somewhat of a paradox. The flow of plastic bottles and debris is rather sickening. It comes from all the northern burbs and get picked up in the runoff flow of alleyways, ditches then into storm drains and into White Rock Creek.

As I made my way around the lake, the secondary spillway and White Rock Creek below the tidal pool from the main dam and spillway were level with each other. That's normally a 30 to 40 foot drop. The USGS gauges in the tidal pool were all under water. I didn't even check the website because the readings would not be posting or at flood stage or above. But, it was drawing a large number of  people to take photos and selfish with the roaring water behind them.

When I made my way down West Lawther, the parking areas and docks were all pretty much empty but alone the shoreline, the high winds had pushed the debris flow all the way across the lake from where White Rock Creek enters the lake to the west side of the lake's shorelines. The water didn't get as high as I had thought that I would find it and that is a good thing. The clean up of plastic will be confined to the shoreline in a about a two foot wide band of wood and plastic.

This is the tidal pool below the main dam and spillway. Where  you see a line between smooth surface and more rough water is where the secondary spillway steps down that 30 feet drop. White Rock Creek begins again right at the bridge line going south into south Dallas where it flows into the Trinity River. From there its a few hundred miles to the Gulf.

Here comes the water over the dam and down the long and wide spillway into the two channels on either side of the island into the tidal pool before it makes that left turn at the secondary spillway that is big blocks like steps that drops about 30 feet in height where it returns to White Rock Creek again 

The west side of the lake where the debris has collected for several hundred yards.

It Hurts So Bad, I Am Laughing.

Well, the last time that I did a stunt like this, the pain lasted for a full week. This time, it didn't start for three days after wards and got better, then made its returned. I walk like a zombie! And, of course, I am talking about my walk around the lake less 1.8 not 1.18 miles of  the 9.5 miles trek. Just getting up to  get a cup of coffee is something that would probably get a 6 figure count on YouTube if there was a video. And, we all know that will never happen--nope! The thing is, though, it hurts so much I laugh.

Tonight, I think late afternoon really, the annual Deep Ellum Festival began. The weather is perfect tonight. It will be perfect tomorrow. And Sunday, the last day, the clouds begin to come  in late afternoon with rain sometime after midnight. The big question is will there be enough strength to go down there and enjoy the music, the food and check out the art and the crafts that will line Main Street for several blocks and  in the Deep Ellum District. It's been a couple of years since I've missed one. It is the only Festival that I truly love to attend. The days of painting the tunnels is gone since DART put the Green Line right down Good Latimer with the Deep Ellum Station. White Deep Ellum has really changed in the past 15 years, It still has that eclectic taste, smell,and sound of bye gone days.

This will be the first year that there will be a new high rise right in the heart of Deep Ellum--it's first true high rise--and it is bound to have an impact on the scenery, if nothing more. I would like to be a part of that--seeing the various sound stages placements and how the sound will change. It's something that most certainly will reverberate sound waves in some form different than in the past.

Since I have not taken hardly a handful of pictures in this great weather since my walk, The next two days will be my last chance for the next week as spring storms are due to move in and linger all next week, with some severe Monday with wind and hail. That's our Texas usual in the Spring storms. The tornado threat is there always in any severe storm but it seems that we get more tornadoes in round two which is the fall storm season.

Time will sort out my post for the rest of the month, I suppose. At least until the strength comes back--if or when it decides to reappear! Until then, there are a couple of interesting shots.

Remember to click on one image to open up all in a larger format for better viewing.

 

Don't know the story about this plug in the middle of know where but it has been there for ages.

A wildflower at the edge of a road.

A coot (or mudhen) gets pulled over the dam. 

Coots can't fly that well. While I did see one manage--rather struggle- to get enough lift to get back up and over the dam, most of the other 17 that were pulled over the dam were still on the spill way a couple of days later. The spillway is a great place for waterfowl for water and food!

Paddle Boarding on a Fall Afternoon

A paddle boarder works his forward stride.

Now, the glide from the stride!

A paddle boarder gets in a good workout on the lake between the dam and the water pump station at White Rock. The pump station building--a historic landmark--is getting a face lift thanks to the city of Dallas and the water district. The trail across the top of the dam and the front of the water pump station are currently closed,although the risk-takers continue to make tracks.

White Rock and a Record Rainfall

Most rain ever in the month of January 4.27 inches officially at DFW International Airport.

The roar was amazing

The noise of heavy rain after it falls was a crowd  draw today at the spillway of White Rock Lake. Several mentioned that this was the highest that they had ever seen the water. I can't recall a time when it was more. Love Field,which is closer to White Rock, had 4.46 inches, but the official record keeper is DFW, some 20 miles to the West.