Then The Rains Came

Posted by hankster

I extended my stay at Guadalupe River State Park because of the storm that was going to roll through last night. And roll through it did!

It rained all day yesterday and last night about midnight the storm front moved through. There were even tornado watch issued for the area. Most of the storm went a few miles north but we still got over 3" rain. At times the rain was coming down so hard I had to turn up the TV volume over half just to hear it over the deluge pounding on the roof of the trailer.

This morning I got up to sunshine but much cooler temperatures. At 2pm it is 45 degrees with 20 mph winds. With all the rain I wanted to see what effects it had on the river. Me and Spud drove down to have a look. The river was running about 4' higher then the day before. Talking with the park ranger he said the flow rate was 1000 cfs compared to 100 cfs that is normal this time of year. He had pictures from the late 90's when the river was 42' above normal and most of the picnic and parking area around the river was covered with water.

The above picture is of the same tree before and after the rains. Click on it to get a larger view. 
See some other pictures of the river flooding.

I plan on leaving the area tomorrow and head further west. With all the time on my hands yesterday I did some research and decided I want to visit Big Bend National Park which is north west border of Texas and Mexico. It will add an extra day of driving to my trip but then I have no agenda or timetable to keep. Looks like I won't get there for two days and I'll make another report once I get there.