Unbelievable, Steve - I just can't get away from the rain. Atlanta normally gets about 50 inches of rain per year, but we have 45 inches recorded already with 5 months to go. We've been back 24 hours and so far no rain, but t-storms forecasted tonight. And we're not even in the heart of hurricane season yet, where we can normally count on at least a couple of big drenches from systems moving up the coast or the Gulf.
Watching D Matt's forecasts, I knew that our chances for decent weather were diminishing, but I didn't expect this. There were some really miserable people streaming down off the mountain Tuesday and Wednesday, especially the JMT hikers. Stories about tents washing away on the other side of the crest, people in bivvies begging to be let into tents, rockfall and slides galore - it was apparently pretty ugly. Doug said this disturbance was way more than the typical monsoon, and all the moisture in the ground is just perpetuating repeating cycles. Early on Sunday morning, the day we left, the skies were blue and clear. By 10:00 am super-heavy clouds had formed and were darkening quickly. It was amazing to watch. And Death Valley looked just as bad much of the week.
