On Saturday, following an extended dry spell, heavy precipitation fell at various places in our region of Montana. I left my house for the cabin just as the rain started, but after driving only a couple of miles, I drove out of the rainfall. A half-hour after leaving the house, while climbing Flesher Pass, Desiree said, “Is that snow?” She pointed just off the highway.
“Kinda
looks like it,” I remarked. Rounding the next curve, we encountered huge swaths
of white. “That’s hail,” I said. Soon, the entire expanse around us was covered
with about 2 inches of white hailstones. You could also see where running water
had swept debris across the highway. Desiree snapped photographs as I drove on.
The hail tapered off and vanished as we neared the top of the pass.
Driving
home on Sunday, I saw signs of heavy rain on our country road as we neared our
house. Running water had cut channels across some sections of the hardpack
gravel surface. The ground was wet. Once we reached home, I checked my rain
gauge. Much to my surprise, I found 2½ inches had accumulated. A chat with my
neighbor, Kevin, confirmed that intense rain fell for about two hours after I
left the house on Saturday. That’s impressive when you consider that we
typically average only 1.2 inches of rain for the entire month of August.
—Mitchell
Hegman
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