F3 Tornado in Wallowa

I was camped about 5 miles out and saw the clouds. Something prompted me to go into town. The road was covered with leaves...a curious sight.

The aftermath showed the hail

was coming horizontally

See all the leaves?

Dents all across the side

7

The old Methodist Church

The Worst!!!

I was late getting out of Flagstaff on Feb 8 and didn't make it all the way down the hill. The weather was closing in and it was nearly dark when I made  camp on Silver Spring Road (west side) at about 4,000 ft (just over 1,200 m).

The Goddess smiled as she took aim. Unable to quell her beneficence she waited until the hatches were battened.

It began as a nice drizzle and I, who REALLY dislike rain, might even have enjoyed it...except it was cold! 

On the edge of an arroyo, an ill-advised locale during the Monsoon Season, I surmisalled a flash-flood was unlikely at this time of year. On the other hand, what with all the climate change these days, a Nutria can never be too sure. Sometime during the night it stopped....or so I tho't.

Upon awakening, my first tho't was...Whiteout!! Almost, but not quite as dramatic was, perhaps, an inch of SNOW! Shivering and with teeth chattering, I cleared a patch (on the ground); I thanked my luck as I savored the fact it wasn't frozen...and squatted. Fortunately there was no wind; no breeze either (couldn't resist).

When asked, the station attendant in Kingman said, “It doesn't usually snow in February...and it caught the weatherwoman by surprise too.” Perhaps you'll empathize when I admit to a bit of shadenfreude from that little factoid. 

The quiet is incomparable. It's nice to be back in the wilds....less than a mile from the freeway. Rumor has it it’s warmer further south.

Set from Lost In Space?