Sunday July 18th 2021

Yesterday evening as the sunset the thunderstorms started. There were two lines of storms before midnight. The overnight hours were probably calm. At least I didn’t wake up to the sound of rain on the roof. This morning, as I was eating breakfast, the storms returned.

All of these storms dropped rain at a prodigious pace. The areas that had returned to a more or less dry state returned to a flood level greater than I’ve seen in the week plus I’ve been here. The ground is saturated preventing the new rain from sinking into the ground. Most of the tent campers and a few of the RV campers found they were setup in a mud puddle. One of my car camping neighbors left during the night, the other one left early before today’s second round of storms. The occupants of a bigger tent a few sites away abandoned it during the night. They came back in the early afternoon and slogged through ankle deep water to collect their gear. Even the Boy Scout troop camped in one of the group areas had to pack their week equipment in this mornings rain.

By noon today the sun was out. There was still the sound of thunder in the air for most of the afternoon. The area a little ways to the north was under a flash flood warning. I don’t know how to read the sky around here for weather threats. Storms seem to form overhead rather than move in from one direction or another. My concerns about the weather kept me at home today. My desire to go out didn’t out weigh my concern about traveling on unknown roads in low-lying areas with the potential of low visibility in high volume rainstorms.

I had to stay on the paved surfaces during my walks today. Even the deer I met on the road seemed to think the paved surface was better for walking than the boggy woodlands. The campground has transitioned back to midweek mode from the busy weekend activity.