Aylmer Express "MoHo" Extravaganza 2006

Today we were saying “Adios” to Tuscon and Arizona and heading toward New Mexico. Things were starting to go a little better weather wise. After the stormy night the rain had let up but there were still lots of ominous looking clouds to the south and north. However, our path and speed managed to take us in between these two nasty weather systems almost our entire way to Las Cruces. We did get a small bit of rain but typically it was just the tail end of a storm we were passing through. We were happy to be greeted with a sunny sky as we sailed into Las Cruces. We could still see some strong weather off to the north, with lots of lightening and we were glad we had arrived after it had passed through. WRONG! About 2 hours later, while we were enjoying a family game of RISK in the MoHo at the local Walmart, we heard the thunder start to roll in our way. We then heard the rain begin. It then picked up force and we started to do a walk through to make sure all the windows were closed. Then the hail began! It was so windy and the hail was coming down so hard that the MoHo was shaking and popping like a metal can cooking some popcorn. It was so loud that Chantal and I had to shout at each other to be heard and we were only about 2 feet apart! As the hail storm was starting to reach a peak I could feel a very strong wind at my feet. I was trying to ask, ok, I was shouting at Chantal to see if there were any windows or ceiling vents open but she was not aware of any. Luckily A-P said that maybe it was the bathroom window. Sure enough, it was open and the air was coming in so forcefully through that little window and then under the bathroom door that it felt like a 20 mph (32 km/h) draft along the floor. Unbelievable. Fortunately the window opens out from the bottom so no rain had made its way in but the wind was almost blowing the shutters off! And we were also lucky that the speeding hail had not cracked or smashed the window that was sticking out. The hail storm seemed to continue to rage at its peak for at least 5 minutes. Now that may not sound very long but when you are sitting in a MoHo wondering if the size of the hail is going to increase and if the two skylights might give way, it is a very long time. We were all gathered in the back watching the hail bounce of the hood and roof of the car and gather on the ground all around us. I was not looking forward to driving a car with dents all over it for the next couple of months so we waited, watched and hoped that the hail would not increase in size or duration. Finally the hail slowly subsided. The MoHo seemed to have made it through intact. It was still raining and thundering and I wanted to get a photo of the parking lot filled with hail but it was pretty dark, as you can imagine, however there was a streetlight that I though might provide enough illumination for the shot. Then, just as I was pushing the button for the picture, the clouds all around lit right up from a lightening bolt and lit the image beautifully … amazing! Anyway, once the rain let up I took a walk around to check the carnage. It was funny to see ice all piled up around the wipers. I instinctively started to remove it before the wet, icy mixture turned to one big block of ice and then I realized that I am about 50 miles from the Mexican border so that is not likely an issue I’ll have to deal with … I HOPE! One other good thing is that we happened NOT to be located near a drainage area as that is where all the hail and ice accumulated, swept there by the torrential rain. The ice packed up to about 6 inches think where the water was draining and you could see vapour rising from the massive chunk of frozen water. I took a few “money” shots to see if I could make it look worse than it was but I have to admit that it was quite surreal to see the parking lot covered in ice pellets with palm trees in the background. Once more I have to ask … what is up with this arrant weather? … am I really in the desert? Wait a second, I think I know what is going on. One look at the map shows me getting closer and closer to Roswell … hmmmmm.

Today’s word:

arrant \AR-unt\, adjective:Thoroughgoing; downright; out-and-out; confirmed; extreme; notorious.