Monday July 12th 2021

The day began sunny and warm with the usual high humidity. The hourly forecast called for a 60% chance of rain around the lunch hour followed by a break until the chance returns around the supper hour. It didn’t work out that way.

I set out after a late breakfast to get my exercise in before the first forecast shower. The weather radar looked clear and all of the horizons seemed clear. I took my time walking through the campground toward the day use area and the beach. Yesterday’s rain had made any off road travel impossible once more. The grass areas varied from a soggy mess to fully flooded. The walk is about a half a mile along the roads. As I approached the beach the northwestern horizon was turning black. I was getting caught away from the shelter of my RV home again.

With the beach in sight and the leading wind front associated with the storm arriving, I turned around and started for home at a brisk pace. I made it back just as the first significant rain drops started to fall. Once inside, I got the windows closed and the air conditioner on as the plip plop of rain drops on the roof turned to a continuous roar. The forecast was wrong. Rain fell at a high rate for over three hours. It was after four when I no longer heard the sound of rain on the roof.

The TV weather talkers and my cell phone weather radar app indicated that flash flood warnings were in place for the area. The wind was not very strong, so sever thunderstorm warnings were not issued. The flash flood warning kept me at home. I was going to explore the area today, but traveling on unknown roads in the rain didn’t seem prudent. You never know when a flooded road is around the corner particularly in an area that I don’t think is more than a foot or two above sea level.

I spent the afternoon reading. The TV was on, but most of the time it was very hard to hear over the sound of the rain. The good news is once the storm ended it was a beautiful evening. I got my first evening walk to the beach area in. Each of the previous day’s I’ve been here had wet or threatening weather after the supper hour. One of the smaller alligators was even out of the pond.