Heavy Weather - Eastern Washington Thunderstorms

Quite the day yesterday -- wish I was over there to observe. From Cliff Mass:

Eastern Washington Gets Hit Hard By Strong Thunderstorms
Saturday was an amazing day over and east of the Cascade crest with numerous very strong thunderstorms, particularly along the eastern Cascade slopes. Large hail, strong winds and heavy rain hit from Yakima to Wenatchee, with some observers describing dime or quarter size hail. Strong winds have downed trees and powerlines, and localized flooding has occurred.

Maria Langer is a commercial helicopter pilot and she contracts with cherry orchards to use the propwash to dry the cherries. She was busy all week. From her website -- An Eclectic Mind:

A Hellish Week
I�ll admit it: when I�m on contract to dry cherries, I hope for rain.

Yes, I�m in Washington state. But no, it doesn�t usually rain much here. I�m on the east side of the Cascade Mountains. That�s the dry, desert side.

In past years, rain has been light. I could count the number of days I had to fly on the fingers of one hand. Last year, I think I went to the second hand. We had one brutal day when I flew more than 6 hours last year, flying over one orchard after another until every single one under contract had been dried. But there isn�t usually much rain.

And although I do get paid to sit around and wait for the rain � which sometimes requires me to sit around my base all day watching radar � I also get paid to fly. It�s the combination of the two forms of revenue that make the season worthwhile.

So I hope for rain.

This week, however, I got more than I wanted. A lot more.

I love living where we are but sometimes, I really miss the extreme weather. Give me a good thunderstorm and I am happy for a week...