close to overflowing

8.9.24 ~ Bolin Creek, Umstead Park

Tim recorded 5½ inches in his rain gauge from Tropical Storm Debby. We never lost power and I think the storm had technically weakened to a tropical depression by the time it reached here. (We never got a tropical storm warning here either.) All the same, it was good to be safe inside and hunkered down for a day.

We heard reports of tornados and flooding elsewhere in nearby counties so we were lucky. Today we drove down to Bolin Creek Trail to get a good look at the creek and it was close to overflowing. The pictures taken there last September show what the creek looked like when the water was low and the stones were visible in the streambed. See here.

from the bridge looking downstream
from the bridge looking upstream
branches touching the water
water swirling around some roots
water creeping up the bank
water rushing by

Today the sky is blue with white puffy clouds and the sun is bright and warm. We already have a feels like temperature of 90°F and tomorrow promises to be even warmer.

31 thoughts on “close to overflowing”

  1. Is this the creek in back of your yard or in the town, Barbara? I saw that Raleigh was under tornado and the treat of Debby, but I thought you were a good many hours away to were you wouldn’t get any of the real fast down pouring rain.

    I’m glad you were hunkered down and were safe with all your power! ❤️

    1. Bolin Creek runs through the woods behind our neighborhood and most of the time that’s where I’ve taken pictures of it. But these pictures of it were taken from about a mile down the creek, where it runs through a city park. (I didn’t want to walk through the muddy and buggy woods, although I was curious to see what it would look like overflowing.) Raleigh is about 30 miles southeast of us, which makes for a surprisingly big difference in the weather sometimes. We were pretty lucky this time! 💙

      1. You are much closer to Raleigh than I thought. I’m glad that you didn’t go rubber booting down by your creek! Best to stay grounded on the high land right now.

        1. My curiosity may get the better of me after one of these rainstorms some day. 😉 Every once in a while I’m up for a “daring” adventure.

  2. Debby is dumping tons of water here as well. PA & NY are getting the worst of it. We’ve already lost power, but saw the truck go by, so hopefully they’ll get it fixed pronto. Tornado warnings until 10 pm. Storms make me so anxious!

    1. Wow! I saw some of the rainfall maps for you guys on the news. I hope your garden didn’t drown and that you got your power back sooner than later! Tornados seem to develop so randomly — we were paying attention to the weather radar on the TV all day.

      1. We fared pretty well with 2 3/4″ from Debby, on top of the 1 1/2″ from a day prior… the lawn is pretty spongy in spots. The waterfall was roaring, but in a ‘normal’ sort of way. Luckily, no tornados while the gusty winds brought down the usual dead fall (kindling for our cool season!) Power restored after a couple hours, so relieved! 🙂

        1. Glad to hear things with Debby went pretty well for you. We got a lot of dead fall, too, and zillions of loblolly pine cones and scattered everywhere, some still green and attached to twigs and small branches. You’re very lucky to have a waterfall nearby. 🙂

  3. My thoughts have been with all my friends in the path of Debby — I’m glad to hear y’all fared pretty well. Yes, that’s a LOT of rain, but losing power during all that heat and humidity would bring even more misery. A day of hunkering down sounds pretty wonderful, on the whole — kind of like a snowstorm, without the cold, ha!

    1. That was my greatest concern, the possibility of losing power and our air conditioning. We’ve been here over a year now and haven’t lost power yet — I wonder how long our luck will hold! It was kind of like weathering a snowstorm, except for worrying about getting too hot instead of worrying about freezing without any electricity!

  4. You lucked out to remain unscathed by Debby and the before-and-after photos tell the story too. I am always amazed by a fellow blogger in Tennessee when she shows photos of the tree roots sitting in water following volatile weather or even ice storms once the ice melts. Those trees must be very resilient.

    1. I’ve been reading that kinds of trees differ in their flood-tolerance. Some can tolerate several weeks of inundation and others won’t last more than a week. I keep thinking we should drive down to the Mason Farm Biological Reserve again, where you have to drive over a ford to cross Morgan Creek to get to the parking lot. I bet that was really flooded!

      1. I am always amazed at Rebecca’s trees … so resilient! I don’t know if I ever asked her what type of trees they are. That would be an interesting drive – I hope you do that and “report” on it.

        1. So many places around here to discover and others to visit again. I’m going to have to start my rotating system of index cards (one walk on each card) again to choose where to walk each morning when the autumn weather lets us out of here again. 😉

          1. That sounds like a plan Barbara. We are actually chilly again today – it only got to 67 degrees! And Ann Arbor is going to 44 tonight! I am happy for sweater weather and it was actually cold in the house. I had to put socks on instead of just my slippers.

          2. That cool Canadian air mass finally did make it down here and we made it out for a great walk! It was great having to wear a hoodie out there. 🙂

          3. I’m glad you and Tim got out for a walk. I was enjoying “sweater weather” but today I was overdressed. It was cold in the house, so I assumed it would still be chillier outside. I should have gone back and changed, but decided to just get out while it was cooler.

          4. Might be getting another walk in today! Have to make the best of “sweater weather” while it’s here. I hope you didn’t get too overheated. Sometimes I wind up tying my hoodie around my waist with the arms. Hang on my friend, autumn is coming!

          5. Good for you Barbara! I made the most of our cooler days, but I had two parks on my agenda today and after a really long walk at Humbug Marsh and the Wildlife Refuge, it suddenly got too hot and it was 75 when I got back to the car. I drove to Elizabeth Park, three miles away, found a parking space, but the Boardwalk and Bridge is all out in the open, no trees, so I decided not to go. I do the same thing – those arm come in handy!

          6. I’m glad you got at least one of your long walks in before it got too hot. When I took my hoodie off yesterday the sun did feel so good on my arms for a while. But it got too hot for Tim after about an hour and a quarter. Something is better than not walking at all.

          7. Yes, even a shorter walk counts toward a little morning joy. I just went to Council Point Park this morning. The humidity was very high and supposed to be hot by 11:00 a.m., so that was it for me. The squirrels were happy and not in splooting mode … yet.

    1. Thanks for stopping by, Karma! It was a pretty impressive rainwater flow but the locals tell me the flooding can be much worse.

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