The Aftermath of the Pineapple Express.........

My shift ended last night at midnight although I guess I was a few minutes later than that when I finally checked out. The mens' department was a mess so getting it "recovered" for today's sales day was a hectic, stressful ordeal with that midnight deadline hanging over my head and it must have been that way in the other apparel departments as well because all of us were running like little mice frantically preparing their families for a storm. Little did we know the storm was indeed outside brewing, just waiting for us to get off work.

I drove the 15 minutes to home watching the winds grow with each mile. As I neared the main intersection in Graham, blue flashing lights flew through the traffic light making my heart leap. A feeling of foreboding filled the air.

By the time I reached home, the winds were so strong, I could hardly stand to get the gate open to my farm. Strong gusts battered me into the fence as I tried to secure the gate so my car could pass through. I quickly parked my car, closed the gate and as I returned to the house I saw a flash of light overhead. Lightning? Power station exploding? Too busy to give it much thought, I hurried myself into the house bracing myself against the strongest winds I've encountered in a while.



I didn't even have my coat off when the roof exploded with the sound of the torrential rains. Hail pelted the windows on the south side of the house (an experience I don't think we've encountered the entire time we lived here) as Mother Nature released her vengeance on western Washington. Dave looked at me and gasped making reference to the timing of my arrival. I had just beaten one h*ll of a storm.

Delilah howled wanting to get to me for comfort but David grabbed her to save my dress slacks from her long silver hair. I headed into the bedroom to shed them so I could comfort both dogs. Before I'd gotten my shoes off the lights flickered and then died. The power was out and the storm was just getting started.




Lightning light up the night skies and thunder cracked. Thunder storms are not common in this area of the country so they're pretty unnerving. With no warning for this kind of storm we were not prepared with flashlights or oil lamps so Dave and I both scrambled to find something so we could see. Once we rounded up flashlights so we could see to prepare for bed we both tried to get some sleep.

I remember laying in bed and wondering what in the heck was happening. This is just not the kind of storm we have in winter in western Washington. I kept thinking about the concerns of the local National Weather Service workers for unknown weather extremes in our area this year.





Today there was a tornado in Aumsville, Oregon today. This article is from the Tacoma News Tribune about the event.

There is also a tornado warning for western Washington until 10 PM tonight although there's not a word about that on the local news. Tornado threat in Western Washington Dec 14. This article is posted by a storm follower for the National Weather Service.

In addition to this article I've heard, though still not officially, there was a tornado that touched down in western Washington during that after midnight storm last night. Looking at the lumber yard destroyed in Maple Valley it does bear resemblance to tornado damage I have seen. The weather I experienced as I got home from work eerily resembles my experience with a tornado in Denver.




I can't help but wonder what is coming next. These pictures were taken just before sunset tonight at our continually growing creek. I would say at this point about a fifth of our place is currently under water and the water is still rising. The Pineapple Express might be gone but her aftermath may not be over yet.

I apologize for the dark photos. It looked lighter outside to me than this but I guess the camera does not lie. I'll try to get some earlier in the day tomorrow so I can better show you the flooding. In a couple of these pictures the water goes back at least 100 feet. Normally our little creek is maybe six feet at its widest part.

Our horses are dry. I cannot say that for the neighbors although the horse does have a dry place accessible. When I took the last picture the horse was in water over its hocks but didn't seem to be in any trouble despite the fast moving water.