This is not a weather story.

I first noticed the sky yesterday afternoon. It was kind of overcast, and Mother Nature started to spit out a few rain drops.

I mentioned it to my family, and asked if everyone had their car windows rolled up.

Soon after that, the downpour started. And then came another round, and another, and another.

It hailed between downpours several times.

I don't know how many times it rained or hailed, but it seemingly went on forever. My little place in the world is in a drought, so any type of precipitation is usually welcomed with open arms.

I'm sorry for the people who got hail damage, wind damage, tornado damage or any other type of damage.

Bad stuff aside, it's kind of peaceful to look outside and see Mother Nature giving us something we so desperately need.

We pray for rain in church every Sunday for farmers. While we could have done without the ugly stuff, that prayer was answered yesterday.

My hometown got anywhere from 3-5 inches of rain. My phone was buzzing the whole night with severe thunderstorm warnings and flash flood watches.

Flash flood watches in western Kansas? Those are still weird to get.

Lovingly stolen from the US National Weather Service Dodge City's Facebook page.

My Dad and I drove around afterwards to look at the town. There were odd-looking rotating clouds for a time. The pond/lake at the community college was flooded, and a bridge that normally rests in the middle of the lake came loose, and was floating at one end of it.

There was water flowing in the river (although it probably didn't last very long).

Western Kansas needed a drink badly.

Funny side story:

How to get the latest local weather data is instilled in my brain from being a newspaper reporter. Last night while laying in bed, I did this without even thinking:

Go to local National Weather Service website: http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ddc/
Click on 'Latest Text Products'
Click on 'Local Storm Report'

And there you go, all of the hail, wind, rain and tornado reports for my hometown for the night.

In other news, I'm a nerd.

Haha.

When it's busy weathering outside, one thought flashes through my mind - At least I don't work at a newspaper and at least I don't have to write a weather story tomorrow.

Score.