Looking Southeast

This photo was taken from our mailbox this afternoon, looking toward the southeast.........Cedar Rapids is located in that direction, about 60 miles away, as the crow flies. You can see the dark blue cloud mass over that area in the distance. Besides the massive flooding going on today in CR, there are also heavy rains falling there, adding insult to much injury.

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Another thing I've noticed the past couple days is a low, deep rumble coming from the south. I think that would have to be the sound and vibration of all that water rushing through in the Cedar River, which runs northwest to southeast, about 14 miles south of us, as it heads toward Cedar Rapids.

And once more, I'll have to say........the clouds have been simply fascinating during this past week with the storm fronts coming and going.

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I just now stumbled into this acerbic blog.........but, he has a cool photo of the flooding in Cedar Rapids, and a link to the CR Gazette, where he used to be a religion(?) columnist.

Cedar Rapids Under

I just turned on the noon TV news........the scenes of the flooding in the heart of Cedar Rapids are stunning. They're calling it a 500-year flood, now! (Update: My husband says that is an insurance concept meaning there is a 1-in-500 chance that a flood of this size will happen in a given year. But, the newspeople keep calling it "a 500-year flood". Update #2........Ok, the newscasters finally explained it this way: A 100-year flood has 1% chance of occurring in any given year.........and a 500-year flood has a 0.2% chance of the same. This current flood in CR is deemed the latter, and covers what is designated as the 500-year floodplain. I figured you would be totally interested in having this explained to you.)

KCRG - TV

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KGAN - TV

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We don't get TV stations from Des Moines, but I'm sure things are bad there, too.

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WHO - TV

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I Need A Cloud Book

On my bookshelf are two bird books, a rock book, and three prairie flower books, but not a single book about clouds. Hence, I can't tell you the name of this particular cloud type, seen above our farmstead late yesterday afternoon.

As I had commented in an earlier post, this wild, volatile weather pattern gripping Iowa right now seems to produce unusual cloud scenes, especially between storm fronts.
From listening to the meteorologists, I've gathered that the bright sunny weather between storm fronts is actually a bad thing........it causes the air to heat up and lots of energy is then available for the storms to use in a violent manner. I never knew that before.......that sunshine could be a dangerous thing......(besides the UV rays which damage skin, of course).

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Evidently then, we should be grateful that the sky is overcast with rain clouds this morning. During the night, we were gifted with another two inches of rain.......causing lots of little rivers and ponds in the fields again.

But, I am not complaining........this is very, very minor compared to the massive flooding going on along most of the rivers in Iowa. Not to mention, also, the horrendous experience those Boy Scouts in western Iowa had last evening when a tornado ripped through their camp in a wooded area near Blencoe, killing four boys and injuring many more. Here's a link to an Omaha TV station that has info.

Amazing Cloud Link

This photo taken last evening in Osage, Iowa, is amazing and frightening!

(Click the third photo in the bottom row.)

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Photos of flood damage to roads and bridges in Iowa.

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8:15 update: I just checked in on Sugar Creek Farm blog and she has the amazing cloud photo from Osage on her post for today! Her aunt took the photo!! Click over there to take a look.......truly, it is something to see!

Flooded Road Update

This afternoon a case of curiosity came over me; I drove two miles to see how
Elk Run Road was coming along. It looks much better, as you can see. Somebody's coming on a 4-wheeler, though; someone else checking out the flooding situation.

And there he goes......racing away.......maybe he's camera-shy.

Water Over Roads

This afternoon my son and I drove around to see the flooding sites and sights in our area. Little Crane Creek has mushroomed to become a wide rushing river, overtaking roads, fields, bridges.......anything in its path.

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The photo below is taken looking straight north along what is normally Elk Run Road. All of the water you see does not belong there!

I honestly have never seen such a huge accumulation of water in this area! It is all headed to the little town of Dunkerton (look out!), and onward from there to the Wapsipinicon River.

Five Inches Rain

In the previous post, I mentioned a thunderstorm moved in last evening. Well, it rained all night........five inches! The photo below shows the "creek" waterway on our farm, being filled with water rushing down from the fields.

Our farm "takes water" from many surrounding farms. Husband had our "creek" waterway excavated last fall, but last night's rain was too much even for the deeper creek bed. When Husband's grandfather purchased this farm back in the mid-1950's, it was considered one of the worst farms in the county, due to its situation of being so wet and having sandy soil. Many, many strings of tile put in over the years have helped resolve the drainage problem. Except, of course, when it rains this much in a short period of time!

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I walked down the road to take a gander at the real creek our "creek" waterway dumps into. Its like a lake today!

Below shows a pair of some type of sandpiper, I think. At least someone enjoys the extra water in the fields!

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I was anxious to check out the robin's nest on the shoulder of the road, to see if it survived last night's deluge. I'll report the findings in the next post. There's good news and bad news.......prepare yourselves......

P.S. - School was dismissed at 10:30 this morning because the Wapsipinicon River is rising, threatening to overtake some roads near the school. Do you think my son was disappointed.......NOT!