So Much To See Before A Storm

Friday, July 13, 2012

John James Park*, Upland natural surface and paved trails

Today's photos:

Isolated thunderstorms were moving into the area when I left home to go for my walk this afternoon. I had occasionally been checking the weather radar and knew my time on the trail would likely be limited before the storms arrived. Once on the trail, I kept an eye on the clouds.

As can be seen in the photos, I was surrounded by the most remarkable beauty and wonder imaginable. Eventually, I could hear the distant rumble of thunder and knew it was time to return to the car. With all that I was encountering, it was difficult to force myself to turn back toward the parking lot, but getting caught out on the trail in a thunderstorm is too great a risk.

June was a very dry month. It is a welcome relief to have the rain return this month. The wildlife will continue to thrive and it will bring even more to experience on future walks.


* As a side note, due to the construction of a new, higher bridge over Salado Creek on Rittiman Rd just to the east of the entrance to John James Park, it is not easy to access the park. However, the park is still accessible and very much worth the effort.

After a Deluge, July Edition, Further Downstream

Thursday, July 12, 2012

I stopped by the river overlook at Concepcíon Park while I was in the area for my walk yesterday. This overlook gives an excellent view of the confluence of the San Antonio River and San Pedro Creek. Given the amount of rain that had fallen earlier in the day, I wanted to see how the confluence looked with all the storm runoff coming from upstream in both the river and creek watersheds.

The San Antonio River watershed drains much of north central San Antonio. San Pedro Creek with its two primary tributaries, Alazan Creek and Apache Creek, drains much of northwest San Antonio inside Loop 410. The water had receded by at least three feet from the high water mark by the time I arrived at the confluence. The pedestrian bridge over the river would have been under a few feet of water at the height of the storm.

There were numerous snowy egrets flying over the river. And there was one very busy scissor-tailed flycatcher catching all the flying insects the storm had disturbed:

San Pedro Creek

San Antonio River

Feeling the Rain After a Deluge, The July Edition

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

San Antonio River, Eagleland Reach

Today's photos:

"Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet." 

-  Bob Marley

This morning began with a summer tropical downpour over Bexar County. By the end of the day, the official rainfall total was 2.83 inches with some areas receiving considerably more rain than that. So, in one day, just over the average rainfall for the entire month of July fell. As I have mentioned in other posts, getting more than a month's worth of rain in one day is not all that unusual in South Texas.

The rain presented a challenge for getting out for a walk. The National Weather Service had issued a flash flood warning and an urban small stream flood advisory both of which lasted the entire morning. As can be seen in many of the photos, the San Antonio River was still raging mid-afternoon. And this in spite of the fact that the Eagleland Reach of the river is within the elaborate flood control system that protects central San Antonio.

A light shower was falling. My walk was relatively short, but well worth the effort. The rain felt good.