OT-CHAT: Frances

Asheville area got hit pretty hard with rain, but not wind.  The air hardly
moved here at our place, but we had somewhere between 5-7 inches of rain.
Some areas had as high as seventeen, the average around 6-8.

Low lying roads all have areas under water.  The water mains serving nearly
all of the Asheville area broke--washed out--where they cross the Swannanoa
River.  We have water here--we're served from the south.

I-40's closure was temporary--but a mess.  A massive slide of mud, rocks and
trees covered all the lanes.  Big equipment got one lane each way were opened
within hours.  Trucks and cars were lined up for miles, of course.

I-26 has stayed open, so traffic in and out of Asheville and Hendersonville
have had to take detours over to that Interstate to get around.

The various rivers crested at around 17 feet above flood stage last night and
are dropping now.

One good thing--Tropical Storms really refresh the air--they stir high
altitude and low altitude layers together, scrub them and leave them
sparklingly clean behind.  Also, we needed the rain, even though a lot of it
ran off.  Our annual total is now one inch above "normal" of which we have
seen few years like that in some time.  With El Nino growing steadily stronger
off the Galapagos we can expect droughty summers for the next couple of years
if the air patterns are typical.  Partly it depends on the Atlantic N-S
oscillation too.  There's more than El Nino governing US weather.

We may get a lot of effect from Hur. Ivan too.  It is a whopper Category 5
tracking right behind Frances.

Neil Mogensen  z 7 western NC mountains

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