Between 7:10 p.m. on July 16 (Friday) and 7:10 p.m. on July 17 (Saturday), 2021 – we got a total of 2.625 inches according to my Taylor rain gage (foreground) with a plastic container and 2.75 inches according to my second gage (background) with a small glass container as shown in the lead photograph.

 

So why a silly 1/8 inch (0.125) of difference between the two gages?

 

The two rain gages are located in our backyard – the Taylor one is in a pot and the other one is in a flower patch – about 4 feet away.

 

Rain, as we all know is nature’s gift to our planet -- coming from clouds above.

 

The amount of water in the clouds varies -- one cloud has less or more water than the cloud next to it.

 

And as the rain falls – in drops -- not all the water makes it inside the containers -- some just bounces off the rims.

 

Let us use the higher number – 2.75 inches for our discussion.

 

And I am sure – Gingy -- one of our two outdoor cats in the photograph would agree. Smokey, his mother, who was somewhere else, would agree too. And Galena, our golden retriever with a curly tail, -- their dear friend – and now at the Rainbow Bridge -- would wag her tail in joint agreement.

 

The rain came down in stages.

 

On Friday evening – I was out playing solo tennis – under overcast skies – in an almost abandoned Jefferson Park – when after playing for half an hour -- it started raining at 7:10 p.m. I immediately gathered the nine balls (one for each of the planets), took out the umbrella, picked up my bag with the tennis equipment -- and I was on my way home -- a short five-minute walk to the south side of the park on Cooley Avenue.

 

As I made my way home – the rain increased in intensity -- accompanied by loud thunder.

 

Nature always has to put up a show.

 

It was raining in torrents by the time I got home – and my plastic containers that I use to collect rainwater for my plants were filling up.

 

I have so many containers – varying in size from small buckets (2 gallons) to large sized containers – 30 gallons.

 

Well it does not rain forever in Cleveland -- after an hour -- the rain eased up. I checked my rain gage – I like the little one -- I can lift it easily and read it – it read exactly 1 inch. I emptied the contents. It can read up to 1.5 inches at a time.

 

So in one-hour – from 7:10 p.m. to 8:10 p.m. – we got 1 inch of rainfall.

 

As it was drizzling lightly – I went inside.

 

The next morning – around 9:00 a.m. – I checked the little rain gage -- and it read 1,25 inches.

 

So over-night – we got an additional 1.25 inches (don't know at what time – as I was not around) -- for a total of 2.25 inches.

 

Around 9:30 a.m. – it started raining again with ferocity.

 

It rained for another half an hour – and then it stopped.

 

I checked the little rain gage – we got another half an inch.

 

So by 10:00 a.m. – we got a total of 2.75 inches.

 

For the rest of the day – while it was mostly overcast – and then in the evening -- the sun came out -- I was able to play an hour of solo tennis -- and there were kids out using the playground and the basketball courts – there was no more rain.

 

The second photograph shows the evening sun casting shadows in the tennis courts with Cleveland Pear trees (no fruit – only spring blossoms) in the background.

 

 

What does 2.75 inches of rain mean?

 

We have a double lot – each measuring 40 ft. x 120 ft. Our neighbor’s house and our house – (both on Cooley Avenue) – are the only two houses among the nearly 60-houses around the park – that have double lots.

 

So much does 2.75 inches of rain translate to.

 

Very simple – find the volume of water that fell on land measuring: 2 x 40 ft. x 120 ft.

 

First convert the 2.75 inches into feet – you guessed it divide by 12.

 

So volume of rainwater that fell on our land:

 

2 x 40 x 120 x 2.75/12 = 2,200 cubic feet.

 

Now 1 cubic feet is the amount of water in a cube with sides of 1 foot.

 

Now 2,200 cubic feet means nothing – unless you translate in to something that has real-life meaning.

 

Say you have a basement: 20 ft x 20 ft.

 

Then the depth of rainwater in the basement would be: 2,200/(20 x 20) = 5.5 feet – meaning the basement would be filled to a depth of 5.5 feet with 2.75 inches of rain – assuming all the water seeped in to the basement.

 

This has to be seen in some context.

 

Normally the rain falls gradually – so water has time to drain to the ground and the storm sewers. In our case -- the rain fell (from 7:10 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. the next day) over 15-hours.

 

However, if the rain fell continuously and deposited 2.75 inches in say 2 to 3-hours – the land and the storm sewers would not have time to absorb -- and the system would back up resulting in flooded streets and flooded basements.

 

This does happen once in a while – and when it does – it just makes life miserable.

 

The recent floods in Western Europe resulted from a lot of rain deposited in a short time causing floods, loss of life, and devastation.

 

In some cases – nature’s fury and the misery and suffering it brings -- makes zero sense!

 

Stay dry and enjoy the summer.

 

 

Listed below are links to recent articles pertaining to life in the neighborhood revolving around rain:

 

1. JEFFERSON PARK’S TWIN MAPLES DURING TODAY'S THUNDERSTORM

 

2. RAIN DROPS FILLING UP CONTAINERS -- ONE DROP AT A TIME

 

3. SOLO SOCCER IN JEFFERSON PARK IN POURING RAIN