Hurricane Sandy - An Update

It currently appears that the eye of Hurricane Sandy will cross from sea to shore somewhere between Cape May and New York City. The sheer vastness of this storm, estimated at about 800-1000 miles across, will ensure that Cape Cod gets its share of wind and rain. The local news stations are comparing Sandy with the "Perfect Storm" of 1991. The 'Perfect Storm' reference may be a bit overstated, but winds may well approach 75-80 mph on the Outer Cape early Tuesday morning. We aren't expected to get a lot of rain, likely under 2 inches. Waves on the ocean side may top 15-20 feet, and bayside erosion may be severe. We'll need to pay attention to the weather predictions as the storm gets closer. Follow the 'action' at www.Weather.com.

Below is the projected path of Sandy, captured just a few minutes ago. The time marks on the figure suggest that this could be a long duration event.

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Good Night Irene - Hurricane and Song

Irene good night Irene good night

Good night Irene Good night Irene

I'll see you in my dreams

Hurricane Irene traveled well to our west, providing serious winds and rain to central Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire, largely sparing us. Irene was only a moderate event for the Eastham and the Outer Cape. At my home we had less than an inch of rainfall and only 40+ mph wind gusts. In fact, at noon Sunday the sun was shining (briefly). That said, there were significant power outages. I got my power back this afternoon. Yeah!

The song Good Night Irene was originally sung by Huddie Ledbetter (aka Leadbelly) in 1932 and has been covered by just about every blues singer since then.

Hurricane Irene - Weekend Guest

This coming weekend looks like it'll be pretty wet and wild with Hurricane Irene's arrival sometime Sunday and staying through Monday afternoon. I've been watching the reports with interest since there will be no escape from the winds (now predicted at 70 mph) and the rain. Predictions on the rain are more difficult to find, but it'll surely be several inches. Even Cape Cod's sand won't be able to absorb the rain fast enough. 

Below is a screen capture from early this morning from the http://www.weather.com/.  Stay tuned!

Top 12 - New England Hurricanes

Now that the 2011 hurricane season has officially started, we need to be paying closer attention to the tropics, the source of all (almost all?) hurricanes. The good news is that Cape Cod, and the whole of New England, only gets a few - and they tend to be fairly weak by the time they get here. Ocassionally, however, a powerful storm comes up the coast and hammers New England.

The Cape Codder ran a story they titled "the Dirty Dozen of New England Hurricanes".  Go to the Cape Codder website and check out the story. The last 2 of the Dirty Dozen were Gloria (1985) and Bob (1991). Some folks believe that we're 'due'. Ugh!

Here Comes Igor!

Our next bundle of joy may well be heading our way in the form of Hurricane Igor. Currently Igor is a category 4 storm, with winds of 140 mph, heading generally north-westward. Landfall, if it hits land, will be over a week away.

The chart below, captured this evening, shows it maintaining 140 mph winds for the next several days and traveling slowly toward the US. We'll need to keep an eye on this one.

Hurricane Earl Was A Non-Event

Yes, Friday night was wet and windy. We had a few inches of rain; we had wind in the 30's. But the net wasn't much. I drove around Eastham Saturday morning, checking up on a few homes, but saw nothing more damaging than a few small stray limbs on front lawns and a large puddle in front of Sam's Deli.

Read 'Earl doesn't lay a glove on Mass.' on the Boston Globe's website.

The weekend, on the other hand, was spectacular! Fall-ish temperatures and blue skies.

Hurricane Earl - Cape Cod Friday?

It's looking like we may get some big waves and high winds for this coming weekend, Labor Day weekend. What has been the best weather summer in recent history may end with a howl.  The current thinking is that Earl will brush by Cape Cod, but not hit us directly. We'll need to keep an eye on this storm as the week progresses.  Read "Hurricane Earl Barrels North on CapeCodOnline.com". Below is a capture last night of the projected path.

Danny Is Depressed!

Tropical Depression Danny (formerly Tropical Storm Danny) is a victim of the times. Although his projected path will brush the Outer Cape, the current peak wind strength will be in the mid-40's (mph). T.D.Danny could never pull himself together, so when crowded by a storm from the west, he simply fell apart. Catch the whole story at http://www.weather.com/. If this storm didn't have a name, it would be no more interesting than a 'standard-issue' Nor-easter.

Even so - today will be a bust. The rain has been falling steady, and heavy at times, since late last night. The winds should peak at roughly 2 AM tonight. The waves should be impressive. A great day to show real estate (ugh!).

1986 - Hurricane Charley

Back in August 1986 Hurricane Charley was rushing up the Atlantic coast and threatened Cape Cod. It wasn't much of a hurricane, but it caused a few fatalities in Virginia and North Carolina. Anyway, my family was camping at Maurices Campground in Wellfleet, in a tent trailer. The news showed that the storm was going to miss the Cape, but we would still get winds in excess of 55 mph and lots of rain overnight. We were concerned about the winds its effect on all the trees that we were camping under.

We were vacationing with another family, so we rented one of Maurice's cabins and set up the 'women & children' in a cabin for the night. Luckily the storm didn't amount to much; just some rain and stiff breezes. Unscathed. The storm, however, was key to our decision to rent homes, in Eastham, when we vacationed on Cape Cod instead of camping.

Below is a photo I took the 'morning after'. The lighting was still that strange purple and the waves were impressive. Enjoy!

Here Comes Hurricane Bill!

Get ready! Hurricane Bill is coming our way and should be here (sorta) Sunday. It currently looks like the eye of the storm will be sufficiently off-shore to provide us with winds only in the 30-40 mph range, where the peak winds, at the eye wall, will be roughly 100 mph . The surf should be between 15 and 20 feet. We'll need to batten down the deck furniture and secure our small boats. It would also be good to take in a supply of drinking water in case the power goes out (somewhat unlikely for the projected winds).

Very important - stay a safe distance from the surf with it's rip currents. But, it should be a good show. As the storm progresses, check the Weather Channel or NECN for updates.

We Dodged A Bullet With Hanna

The weekend turned out to be 'not so bad', even though the remnants of Hurricane Hanna blew through here this past weekend. Saturday was just a day of scattered showers. Saturday evening had light rain but winds in the 25 to 40 mph range, and Sunday was spectacular - bright sunshine. Eastham's Windmill Weekend wasn't a washout as feared. To make the situation even better - Hurricane Ike looks like its heading west, into the Gulf of Mexico.