Dust!

jinman · Feb 24, 2007

The storm lasted for about 1-1/2 hours and then it started clearing up and was gone as quickly as it appeared. My theory is that a dust storm is from the loose sand on the surface. Once that blows away, the dust subsides. I think there was moisture slightly below the surface of the ground and that caused the dust storm to be brief. Thank goodness! I'm tired of smelling it and tasting it.

Bird, I may have to stop by your place and help you eat some of that smoked meat to get the dust taste out of my mouth.

Bird · Feb 24, 2007

Jim, you just let me know when you and Kathy can come by, and I'll put another rack of ribs in the smoker.

johnk · Feb 24, 2007

You still have tumbleweeds in your areas down there?? That would be like getting hit with with a pin cushion. I remember reading about them and seeing them on Gunsmoke....Did you ever have to run from one??? I never lived down there so I'm just asking????

gsganzer · Feb 25, 2007

The wind was pretty intense in Denton. I walked around the place this morning and noticed that the wind almost got my chimney cap, see attached. I'll have to add this to my list of things to do today. I'll at least get everything back together and secured. I might have to wait on the grout until monday, so I can find out what the original mason used for the grout recipe. It'd be nice if my repair doesn't stick out like a sore thumb.

Bird · Feb 25, 2007

johnk said:
You still have tumbleweeds in your areas down there?? That would be like getting hit with with a pin cushion. I remember reading about them and seeing them on Gunsmoke....Did you ever have to run from one??? I never lived down there so I'm just asking????

John, no tumbleweeds that I know of in north central Texas, although, yes, they still have them farther west. Fortunately, we don't have the dust or sand storms very often, at least in this area. The one yesterday was dust instead of sand (at least in my area) so I never felt anything other than the wind hitting me. For the most part, we just stayed indoors during the dust storm, but we did drive about 15 miles to one of our daughter's homes and back and both I and the dog (our Chihuahua went with us) were sneezing and coughing; the dog more so than I. The sandstorms are even worse, but I haven't seen a damaging one myself in about 50 years. I've seen cars that had the glass ruined and paint removed (sandblasted) by a sandstorm in west Texas. In 1994, I was doing a gas leakage survey west of Lubbock and had to stop one day when the wind picked up and I drove back to my RV about 25 miles an hour on the highway because visibility was so low, it was like driving in a heavy fog, but even though it was a very sandy area, there was no damage done that I know of. I guess the wind just wasn't strong enough that day.

jinman · Feb 25, 2007

Bird said:
John, no tumbleweeds that I know of in north central Texas, although, yes, they still have them farther west.

Bird, I think urban sprawl has removed most of the prairies where tumbleweeds used to grow. I can think of several times we cleared tumbleweeds from fencerows as a kid, but not in great numbers as you would see west of Fort Worth and northwest out toward Jack County.

Gordon: That is some serious damage to your chimney cap. I was surprised to see all the damage and reports of downed power lines in the metroplex last night on the news. We had a few broken limbs, but nothing major except for a quick "blip" in our power. That corner brick in your fireplace looks like it could easily come tumbling down.

Bird · Feb 25, 2007

Like you, Jim, I was surprised to see the story in the Dallas Morning News today about power outages, even a traffic signal head blown off its post, cancelled flights at the airport, etc. Even the few limbs I saw down yesterday were hardly more than twigs, but that picture did make me go out and have a look at my chimney cap just now.

Mine looks OK.

MF1455v · Feb 25, 2007

I missed out on seeing the dust. I was driving to Georgetown Tx. pulling our new 5th wheel RV. Talk about pucker factor pulling a 32ft 5th wheel and in a 40 mph cross wind. Don't care to do that again for a while.

News reported a 50mph gust in Round Rock.

James

Bird · Feb 25, 2007

James, is that the model 32QBBS? And if you think pulling that in a cross wind was tough, you ought to try it with a conventional trailer or a motorhome.

Actually, the fifth-wheel is the most stable of all of them. Anyway, it's a nice looking rig. And I don't doubt a 50 mph gust in Round Rock. The Denton airport recorded 55 mph gust.

MF1455v · Feb 26, 2007

Hi Bird, you sure now you RV's, yes it is the 32QBBS. We liked the floor plan giving a place for the son to have some privite space. An being the most stabe and ease of hookup is the reason I got the 5th wheel. We had gotten a used 5th wheel a few years ago and had a lot of trouble with it. We promptly sold it so I'm still in the learing process when it comes to setting it up. Thats the great thing I've already learned about RV'ers is everyone is really helpful.

James