[AZ-Observing] 5 Mile Meadow and hail

From: stevecoe@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: "az-observing@fre" <az-observing@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Tue, 19 May 2009 18:31:35 -0400 (EDT)
Howdy all;

I will tell you the end of the story first, all is well, nothing was
damaged and I am in the RV park near Wickenburg.

After the evening with Jeremy Perez at the Anderson Mesa site about 20
miles from Flagstaff, I decided to try 5 Mile Meadow which is further on
down Lake Mary Road past Happy Jack.  I got there around Noon on Sunday,
set up the scope and put a plastic sheet on it for cover.  I had some
lunch, took a nap and read a magazine.

When I went outside at 7:30 PM it was almost completely clouded out, a few
stars could be seen by 9:00 PM and I checked every half hour until
midnight and it never cleared off, so I went to bed about 1:30 AM.

When I awoke on Monday morning it was still cloudy, but now they were
darker clouds.  I drove into Clint's Well to have breakfast and on my way
back the clouds were darker still.  Now I am starting to worry about
getting the scope wet and the dirt road becoming a muddy mess.

After looking at the weather map on the Internet I gave up.  It has been a
real joy to have the Verizon DSL system, it is slow sometimes, but it has
worked all the places I have been recently.

I tore down the scope, put it into the Saturn Vue and got the RV ready to
travel.  As I am hooking up the SUV to the RV, it starts to rain
moderately hard and I figure "hey, that will keep the dust down on the way
out".  Little did I know that just as I get behind the wheel and start
driving the hail starts.  It is small (I won't embellish the story tooo
much;-).  However it is hail!  I looked over both vehicles and did not see
any damage and like usual it was all over in 20 minutes or so.

So, I have been hailed on three times while trying to view the sky and
have lived to tell the tale.  I do have witnesses for at least two of
those occaisons.  It will give you a feel for how quickly you can tear
down the scope and get moving.

It has rained on and off all day here to the northwest of Sun City and
more dark clouds are on top of Yarnell hill.  So, there may be more to
come.  I HAD to wash the car it was filthy from being towed down that dirt
road and I was concerned about the red clay base changing the color of the
Saturn--to pink.

I am hoping to get another shot at it once the storms stop after Memorial
Day.  If the weather will allow, I am going to give it a try on Memorial
Day itself either at Cherry Road or 5 Mile Meadow, I will post my
decision, I hope we can get some observing done.

Clear skies to us all;
Steve Coe
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[AZ-Observing] 5 Mile Meadow and hail

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