The Storm

Greg and I had just finished hauling a load of road base for his driveway when we heard that a tornado had been spotted near Dubois and the storm that spawned it was headed our way.

Storm clouds were moving in from the southwest and progressively becoming more ominous. The front moved across the caldera towards Yellowstone and its dark lead edge of clouds was churning upward from the ground. We were viewing this example of nature’s power from my front yard, when we heard a single noise, wap!

We recognized that sound. Hail was on its way. A few hail stones hit the ground, a few more and then the floodgates opened as we ran for cover. This was my first encounter with horizontal hail. Nickel-sized ice balls were incoming from the west and shattering with a loud crack on everything they hit. My attention turned to the windows on the west side of the cabin. I was afraid that they would sustain a direct hit and shatter. After ten minutes of intense fury, the hail stopped as quickly as it began. With no visible damage, I was able to savor the power and beauty of the storm. I had dodged a bullet; actually thousands of frozen ones! 

The next day I dropped into the bank and discovered that the Elk Creek area had not been so lucky. The break room freezer had been converted into an evidence locker. Alicia and Kari produced a handful of golf ball-sized hail and recounted how, despite their attempt to move their cars to shelter, the vehicles were left with a dimpled texture reminiscent of golf balls. They took the damage in stride, as seasoned residents of Island Park.

Weather is like food and variety is good. The warm and dry summer of Island Park is like a great burger. No matter how much you love it, a steady diet of the same thing gets old. The other nine months of the year provides a variety that is hard to beat!