Happy 100th Birthday Malheur! Today is the 100 th anniversary of the establishment of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge by the signing of the act by President Teddy Roosevelt. It was an exciting day for us at the ranch.
In addition to helping several families learn about the place we got to be observers of a spectacular storm. It dawned clear this morning but the radio said 30% chance of rain. ( yah right!) About 2pm we started hearing some distant thunder and saw a couple of flashes of lightning. Then we watched a huge dark cloud to the southeast and could see the dark lines of rain streaking down. As the storm approached you could hear this unusual sound and as the cloud got closer, the sound got louder. A drumming noise. Louder and louder the sound got as it approached us, the hills to the southeast disappeared into the grayness. Soon the storm was upon us and one, then three, then many hailstones hit the grass. Soon the roar was all around us and the stones , the size of gumballs, were raining down. We stood in the sodhouse office and just watched in awe. The wind blew, the rain came forcefully and the hail piled up on the ground. Ten minutes went by and then the deluge lessened, then subsided and turned to just rain lasting for a few minutes more. Then it was gone, moving northeast to deliver more ice to other areas. No damage was done to the buildings on the ranch. Oddly enough, the Visitors Center, which is about 2 miles east of the ranch, just had a few sprinkles. We were again made of aware of the wonder and beauty of Mother Nature.
J