Stormy Weather

Being asked to leave, I went to a friends house to play some Madden '09. I won the first two games, and was interrupted during the third to a tornado warning in the county. In standard fashion, I left and drove out to Maumee Bay to try and get a glimpse of the weather from atop the big hill. The terrain here is completely flat, so the big hill is really the only place to get a good idea of where the weather is at, or by looking at the storms over the lake. By the time I got on the hill, the storms had taken a twist and split around me leaving me hopeless for another storm shot. Instead of just wasting time driving back, I stuck around for the sunset. Sunsets after storms always tend to be great ones. With subtle tendencies in the air, and great expansive clouds breaking up the clear blue skies, the calm after the storm is as nice as the storm itself. With the new warm air around, the moisture on the ground started turning into a light mist/fog. It was getting dark out so it was hard to capture. Speaking tales of past, a lone winter tree was getting ready for the spring. The following day, heavy rains followed leading to the highest water levels in years. Nearly 10ft higher than its normal levels this time of year, the Maumee River spilled over its banks and shut down many roads. Great planning on the part of NW Ohio only left road closures as the main problem. Houses are kept well out of floodplain areas and out of harms way. Knowing the areas around town would be inundated with water, it was another great time to get out. Making my way down to the rivers edge, the 'muddy' Maumee, crested over river road making it impassible. Park Rangers, local authorities, and sheriff's were at road entrances just blocking people from venturing too far. Parking my car at next to theirs, I talked with a couple of the officers and kept taking pictures of the area.
I went to the Ohio's oldest golf course, located not even a mile away from the University of Toledo. It was built right on the Ottawa River and its floodplain. My last semester I studied this exact point in the river from a qualitative view. No more than six inches deep at the time, it was fairly easy to study. Going back, I could not even see where I stood before. More than 10ft below the surface of the water, the entire golf course itself was invisible. I have not seen the water so high before in my life. It certainly reaches into the 25 year floodplain of the area, if not 50. Last years winter was fairly dry. Contrast that to this years winter, if spring follows the plan, it should make for an exciting storm season and many more pictures. The spring storms have already showed their face, now it just needs to bring the heat.