Amazing Algonquin Weather
The June/2006 Hail Storm !
Darkest Clouds Ever Seen !
HOW FAST ALGONQUIN WEATHER CAN CHANGE
Daily ritual. Shower/Shampoo/Shave/Shallow Mug of Shimey-Shamey instant coffee! uhhhm ... Kellogs breakfast bar, or two.
Anyways, as always, biked to Two Rivers' outlet from this temporary, "accidentally stumbled upon, most beautiful campsite"
at the far end of Mew Lake Campground. Yep, grabbed ice, grabbed orange juice, grabbed that leisurely 2ND vital cup of 'real coffee'!
Very-very nice chat of course, as well, as always.
Looked to be another perfect Algonquin day. Perfect day for mountain biking along the O.R.B.T. towards Rock Lake Campground, the
very eastern terminus of a truly world class mountain bike trail.
However, as it does happen in Northern Ontario, Canada, Algonquin Park, the sky changed quickly. At first it
just looked like rain but when I remarked to Joan (Joanie), head cook at TWO RIVERS OUTLET, about a big black cloud that appeared
to be heading this way, she also admitted that it looked very ominous. It was.
Actually cut Joan off abruptly as we were chatting and blurted out something about having to quickly, try
to beat that huge vertical dark cloud back to my campsite in order to 'lock it down'. Joan looked at me like I was a
little bit crazy then said " OK , we'll talk to you later then ... " , but I was already way out the door and half a mile
away before I realised my accidental abrupt rudeness.
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| Hard on the Paint |
Tarp Barely Survives |
Tent is Not as Lucky |
ALMOST MADE IT BACK
Peddled back to my site as fast as the trail allowed, considering all the blind corners
along the way, where I could easily run into cyclists or hikers coming towards me. With orange juice and ice
and loaf of bread swinging unevenly I managed to get within 60 feet 6 inches of my car before the cloud let go ...
and let go it did indeed (see the images above).
THE VIDEO'S REALLY SHOW THE ACTION
Some images and video's were shot from the safety of my battered car, while
others were shot outside once the hail storm began to subside a bit. Immediately below are some
storm video's and then below this section are some images taken an hour after - and then several
hours after the huge storm clouds had passed through the area.
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| A STORM VIDEO SHOT FROM THE CAR |
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| STORM VIDEO SHOT FROM UNDER THE TARP |
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| STORM VIDEO SHOT FROM UNDER SOME TREES |
CALM AFTER THE STORM
It seemed to take forever to pass, for me, but perhaps not for those that were safely
huddled inside the Two Rivers Store, watching with amazement as the hail and heavy rain came down. For
those of us that were camping/biking/hiking/canoeing (and many were) it was pure adrenaline at first as we rushed
to find safety. It was also yet another Algonquin day that we would never forget.
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| View From The Trees |
The Comfort Station |
Warden Helps a Cyclist |
THE COOLING EFFECT OF HAIL
It stopped as quickly as it started, but wherever you looked it was
very much different now. No longer a summer's day but suddenly October. The open areas
of ground more white than green. The warm moist air cooled, now thick with a cold fog.
In a matter of minutes everything transformed.
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| View Into Two Rivers |
Highway 60 |
Huge Thunderhead Cloud |
Hours Later We Go For a Drive
Above we see a shot of the huge thunderhead cloud that had done all the damage.
Taken 50 KM's away we can clearly observe how the raindrops were moved back up into the top area of
that cloud, cooled until frozen, then dropped back down to earth. Below, Algonquin is still very cold
even hours later, thick fog still wafting in many areas.
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| Watching the Storm Pass |
The Fog Lingers |
Still Foggy at Sunset |