by Leslie Cox; Friday, October 24, 2014

Rain! Buckets and buckets of it!

Last twelve days…311.0 mm (12.8 in). More than double the monthly average for October.

Record breaker day on Tuesday, October 21st…88.0 mm (3.5 in) of rain in 24 hours.

Probably broke another record as 85 mm (3.4 in) of that 88.0 mm came pouring down in just roughly thirteen hours. Someone literally had turned on a tap somewhere.

A horrible day, weather-wise, on the 21st. Thunder and lightning started up at around 2 p.m. Deafening claps of thunder that rolled right overtop of us as John and I were working in the school garden. Followed almost immediately by flashes of lightning…bright enough to really stand out against the storm-laden sky.

Then the wind picked up…building strength until it was lashing everything at hurricane force. According to Ed Bain, weather anchor for CHEK News, wind gusts of 180 km/h (112 mph) were recorded at Estevan Point, BC. (See note below.) That falls within Category 3 hurricane status.

Do not know how high the wind gusts were here in our garden but they were sufficient to keep me awake until after 2 a.m. John and Sadie-puppy slept straight through it. Lucky them!

 

Note: Estevan Point is on the west coast of Vancouver Island at the tip of Hesquiat Peninsula. Approximately 24 km (15 miles) south of Nootka Island…just around the corner from the mouth of Muchalat Inlet.