Good afternoon Amy!
Below are the photos from 7/9/23 that I showed you yesterday. As mentioned, I was paddling in decent weather on the west side of the lake about 2 miles out from the dam around 1P when, without any warning, the wind speed rapidly increased followed by clouds and rain. It came from the west moving fast directly toward the east. I had no idea what was happening but the wind blew my hat off and started to howl and I couldn’t stand or paddle, whitecaps everywhere. I guessed the breeze was now 20ph and rising. So I knelt down on all fours, grabbed the rails of the board and my paddle, and got ready for a quick trip east. It probably took 2-3 minutes to be blown across the lake but it seemed like 30 seconds. It was now raining hard with lightning and the shoreline was barely visible. I was happy to see the corgrass figuring it would stop me in a few feet. Wrong. We went flying through the reeds for about 30 ft., muck and plants flying everywhere, and finally came to a stop. That part was a fun thrill (in retrospect) because I knew my board
(Dagen) and I were safe. I turned Dagen
to the west and we watched the rest of the show which lasted another 1/2 hr
then abated enough to paddle back to the dam.
The graph below made clear what happened. Gusts to 40 mph. And the second screenshot reveals that it happened again later at 6P!
The wind speed chart confirms that the storm gusted to gale force speeds.
The gods of Guana got me through and I am grateful.
Thanks for letting me share the adventure, Amy
Have a nice Memorial Day!
Ed Smith