Rain, rain and more rain!

Happy 4th of July everyone! I hope the weather is better for the rest of you than it is here. In these parts all the celebrations and fireworks have been postponed due to heavy rains. It started last night and has rained more or less continuously all day. Here's a few shots of soggy middle Tennessee taken this afternoon when I drove to the truck stop on I-24 between downpours. The weather on TV frequently mentions "puddling,pooling and ponding" when talking about road conditions during rainfalls, and these shots show why. The PP&P has even been known to close down sections of the interstates around Nashville. You would think in an area that experiences as much rain as they do here that the roads would be better constructed to deal with the runoff, but it doesn't seem that they are. Ditches regularly overflow, pouring water onto the shoulders and across the roadways.

It looks like the Prius, which is parked behind the Tundra, is melting and running in a puddle of red under the truck. 

 The whole yard has and inch or more of water flowing across it like a wide shallow stream. Luckily it slopes slightly so it's not a lake, but it does erode the grass after a while in steeper areas where the water flows faster.

A few of the flooded spots along the road to I-24. Many of the home owners along here have had to replace the culverts at the end of their gravel driveways after they've washed out in previous rains.  They're almost always replaced with a heavy-duty concrete approach so when the water flow is heavier than the culvert can keep up with the water can run over the driveway without washing it away. The water then runs across the roads.

This is a good argument for not having basements. (Besides the fact that the ground is mostly limestone and digging a basement would require blasting.)

Hard to see it, but there is 2" of water the full width of the roadway, it runs out of the driveway at the top of the hill and spreads out across the road in shallow waves.

The forecast is for rain continuing through the weekend, will totals of 5+ inches expected. The 4th of July festivities in the nearby towns have been rescheduled here for several different times, some as late as September and October! Maybe I'll catch a fireworks show down here when I return for the winter.  LOL

Have a Safe and Happy (and DRY!) 4th!