Flash storm

I was taking my mom to my nephew's band concert this evening. The weather had been unsettled today: nice and sunny part of the day, raining at other times. As we were getting ready to leave the house at 6:00, the gathering clouds were beginning to look ominous.

"Are you sure you want to wear that jacket?" I asked my mom, as we were about to head out to the car. She was wearing a light windbreaker of sorts. "It looks like rain."

She grudgingly agreed to change into a raincoat. I returned into the house to get it, and to change out of my sneakers into more rugged and waterproof boots. Thus prepared, we again began to head out.

At that moment the rain began. It started out heavy and got heavier. Hail mixed in with it, tiny squarish chunks about a centimeter on a side. Lightning cracked uncomfortably close as we walked down the hill. By the time we got to the car, the street was flooded almost to the top of the curb.

It got worse. The intersection of Kosciuszko and Main Streets was flooded. Main Street was flooded again a little further down. Water poured in great gouts from College Street and Christian Street. I watched a car and a van driving in opposite directions on Main Street swamp each other and keep on going. Lower Broadway behind Weis Markets was badly flooded, so badly that it nearly stalled the car.

By the time we reached the Nanticoke-West Nanticoke bridge, the rain had tapered off to more normal levels. A few miles outside of Nanticoke, it stopped entirely, and didn't resume again until we were almost at our destination. By the time we got to the concert site, it had stopped entirely again.

Our basement didn't flood, and the temporary patch I put on the front window held, and there were three bunnies playing on the lawn when we got home. All in all, not a bad outcome.