Oh My Gosh...they are telling us to get ready for 'the big one'.

Nothing is on the deck or in the yard yet, so all I have to do is sit and wait. My big fear would be stuff hitting the windows or a tree falling...yikes!

My husband has already been called by our local Red Cross chapter to check his availability. He is to be ready for duty from Sunday night through Thursday...in case they have to open a shelter.

This could really suck...or not. It could just blow itself out before it gets here...hummm...what are the chances of that??? HOLY CRAP...I just remembered...if we lose cable/power...NO COMPUTER!

Get ready everyone...charge all cell phones and computer batteries if you have them.

Oh...and Claire...Sorry Kid-O...you better rethink your decision to run in the Boston Marathon this year. The strees will be wet, the wind will be strong. Sit this one out...you don't want to break a hip... ;)

sooey

Yeah, sooey, I guess I'll pass up the Marathon again (been passing up marathons all my life - unless I can do them sitting down on my bike).

Not only high wind and rain, but it hits at astronomical high tide and they're talking about storm surges more than 2 feet above that. This means up to 4 ft above normal high tide here in Plymouth. Serious flooding problems all along the coast.

Gotta go plug the last tiny hole left in the east wall of the cellar.

I'm also securing loose stuff in the yard, but I'll leave the bird feeders and baths for last - probably spread a lot of seed on the ground in sheltered spots to tide them over (ouch, tide was not a good choice of words).

Flashlights, battery radio, plain old plug-in phone are ready (always ready). All tender plants are either in the house or in the little greenhouse.

I usually unplug my computer in a storm anyway (I have batteries) because of the fear of a power surge when the power comes back on.

One of the forecast models says the storm may turn offshore after it hits CT, which would help us. I sure hope so, but not counting on it. It looks so innocently beautiful outside now - sunny, blue sky with fluffy clouds - I feel like going outside and yelling No, no nor'easters allowed here!

Claire, growling softly in a very threatening voice

Claire...was that you I heard? I just got back from counting Herring at Stoney Brook here in Brewster. While sitting there in the sun, squinting down into the water, looking for Herring as they shoot the last of the narrows and end up, at long last, in the Mill Pond to spawn, I thought I could hear a little voice far, far in the distance. I could make out only one word...'no!' I also heard what I thought sounded like a wooden spoon hitting the bottom of a kitchen pan. Was that you?

I forgot about the bird feeders. I think mine are safe and secure. I have them tight to the pole to stop the squirrls and racoons from making off with them. Tossing some food on the ground is a good idea. The Cardinals and the Mourning Doves will be happy.

We are far enough from the shore that I am not able to see the water or feel the effects of a high tide. At times like this, thats a good thing.

I hope this storm stays far away from all of New England. Our lot in CT has a big shag bark hickory that has developed a large hole at the base. I don't think it would do damage to the house if it fell but, it's a clean up I would rather not think about. For me, this storm can skirt the south shore of Long Island and keep on going...out to sea.

You are right, it's a beautiful day here on the coast. First full sun we have seen in what feels like weeks. And I fear that it is the last we will see of the sun for several days. :(

Good luck to all in the storms path. Stay safe...

sooey

Unfortunately when last I checked AccuWeather a few hours ago they were predicting that not only would the storm track up the coast, but that it would stall over us because it's going to get blocked by a ridge of high pressure in the Candian Maritimes (which would explain this morning's beautiful weather, I guess). They're predicting it will stay over us until it dies out and wanders east.

Nah, sooey, that knocking sound was just me pounding my head against the wall because I can't stop the storm from coming.

york rose - I'm hoping that AccuWeather is hyping the storm track - National Weather Service/Weather Underground scares me enough.

Is it Tuesday yet?

Claire

I have about 600 1-lb. margarine sized wintersown containers on shelves and tables in my yard. About 250 of them have sprouted, and valiantly survived nights in the 20's. Wind is their worst enemy, though, and they're predicting gusts up to 60 here. They don't often survive being dumped on their heads, but I have no place to protect them all.

I, too, hope it's not as bad as predicted.

drippy - have you considered putting them under the shelves and tables? That way the wind would only hit them from the side, not from under as well; and the ones on the outside would get more wind then the center ones, which would be somewhat protected - sort of like circling the wagons.

Claire

Saturday was a beautiful day. Aside from being cooler, it was exactly the type of days we had before the three CAT 3s which hit Florida in 2005 and 2006 (the last one of which, with sustained winds of 110 mph and gusts to 128 mph, blew my house apart and me back to my homestate). So I had deja vu today. Enjoyed it a lot. Winds of 50 mph predicted for Monday? No problem! A light breeze!

Well, I just got home from walking down to check this morning's high tide. So far, so good. The National Weather Service has upped our surge potential to 4' though which I'm not happy about. We live just 75' from the water so we're nervous, at best. We could get saltwater in the house with this one. Drats!

The garden's going to have to fend for itself...:) Here's our forecast:

"DURING THE HIGH TIDE CYCLE OF THIS EVENING...ONLY 1.5 TO 2.5 FEET OF TIDAL SURGE WILL BE NEEDED TO PRODUCE MODERATE COASTAL FLOODING. THE SURGE DURING THIS TIME IS EXPECTED TO BE ABOVE THESE LEVELS...WITH PRELIMINARY SURGE FORECASTS OF 3 TO 4 FEET. THIS WOULD PRODUCE SERIOUS COASTAL FLOODING SIMILAR TO THAT EXPERIENCED DURING THE HALLOWEEN STORM OF 1991 AND THE SUPER STORM OF MARCH 1993.

COASTAL FLOOD WARNING MEANS THAT FLOODING IS OCCURRING OR IMMINENT. COASTAL RESIDENTS IN THE WARNED AREA SHOULD BE ALERT FOR RISING WATER...AND TAKE APPROPRIATE ACTION TO PROTECT LIFE AND PROPERTY"

Stay safe & dry everybody!

Tricia

Claire, it was just too many to move - the shelves are pretty well stacked with containers. It's been my experience that I'll very occasionally have a container or two blow off, but if there's to be damage it's more likely that a whole shelf will go over - and they usually don't. I've secured them as best I can - the one flat table I had with containers on top I tucked in against the wall of the house.

I am a sick seedaholic, though, and if I lost everything, I'd still have enough seed - and it's early enough in the season - to start a respectable garden this year. I'm expecting most of it to survive, and look forward to planting out poppies, lettuce & peas next weekend.

I took the old hanging planters off the shepherd's poles, though, and grounded them so that the poles won't get pulled down, and put a few loose things in the garage. The back yard has a 7' fence around it, so anything else that might go airborne will probably stay inside the property.

AccuWeather's wind forecast is a lot lower now that the storm is here, with gusts for Lynn predicted at around 40 mph instead of 60. That at least I take as encouraging. Right now it's a very sloppy mix of rain with a little sleet & snow.

Light rain here in Plymouth, although it looked a bit slushy a few hours ago.

I finally took the wind toys inside (gadgets that twist and turn and rotate in breezes) - there were a few gusts and the toys looked like they weren't having fun any more.

Bird feeders are down on the ground and/or relocated to sheltered areas. I was looking out the kitchen window checking general conditions and saw a sudden collision of birds out of the corner of my eye - a mourning dove flew off in one direction and a hawk (probably Cooper's) flew off in another direction. Probably the same hawk I saw a few days ago.

High tide was at about 10:15 this morning, nothing serious. The bigger problems with high tides will be at about 10:40 tonight and 11:05 tomorrow morning.

National Weather Service says winds up to 60 mph are possible tonight:

EAST WINDS WILL INCREASE TO BETWEEN 25 AND 40 MPH LATE THIS AFTERNOON AND PARTICULARLY TONIGHT. WIND GUSTS OF UP TO 60 MPH WILL BE POSSIBLE FOR A TIME TONIGHT...ESPECIALLY BETWEEN 9 PM AND 3 AM ALONG THE SOUTH COASTS OF RHODE ISLAND AND MASSACHUSETTS. MEANWHILE...FOR COASTAL EASTERN MASSACHUSETTS THE STRONGEST WIND WILL OCCUR BETWEEN 11 PM AND 5 AM.

I hate that part that says the strongest wind will occur between 11 pm and 5 am - not a good time to react to emergencies. Actually, I'm on the cusp of the South Coast and the South Shore, so if I split the difference the time will probably be between 10 PM and 4 AM. Gonna be a noisy night here by the Bay.

Claire

Well, they've RAISED our surge potential. How unfortunate is that? :) We're about 1-1/2 hrs. from low tide now & it looks like a normal high tide at our dock. We went over to our fire station & they told us there's a good chance we'd be evacuated tonight. So, we're spending the afternoon putting stuff up on the tables, beds, snapping pictures, & boxing up valuables in a "bug-out" bag. Hope all of this is just a practice drill! Here's our new forecast:

"A COASTAL FLOOD WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 7 PM THIS EVENING
TO 1 AM EDT MONDAY.

DURING THE HIGH TIDE CYCLE OF THIS EVENING...ONLY 1.5 TO 2.5 FEET
OF TIDAL SURGE WILL BE NEEDED TO PRODUCE MODERATE COASTAL
FLOODING. THE SURGE DURING THIS TIME IS FORECAST TO RISE WELL ABOVE
THESE LEVELS...WITH SURGE FORECASTS OF 3.5 TO 4.5 FEET. THIS WOULD
PRODUCE SERIOUS WIDESPREAD COASTAL FLOODING APPROACHING THE
DECEMBER 1992 NOR EASTER."

Tricia

We just got back for taking a ride through Chatham, Harwich and Olreans. It's raining, the harbors and bays are a beautiful shade of green with a few white caps, but the winds are still somewhat normal...for a rainey Cape Cod Spring day, that is. The forcasters are still saying that the damaging part of the storm will hit between 11 P.M. & 5 A.M..

Tricia...I hope you are able to stay dry and that the 75' between your front door and the waters edge proves to be enough of a buffer against the high tide. I'll be driving back down to CT tomorrow...I'll wave as I drive by.

Stay Dry, everyone.

Sooey

Latest is that the worst will end Monday, but it will be slow to leave, too.

I wish I could think of something better to say than "bummer", Tricia!

Keep yourself and your family safe.

Claire

I pray that everyone along the coast and their homes comes through all right.

There was wet snow and sleet accumulating on the ground earlier today - snow and sleet at midday in the middle of April!

That's scary stuff Tricia I hope you all make it through the storm ok. This weather poses flooding problems inland too. Storm's alway's worry me, I have family that gets flooding problems too. David I'm sorry about your house in Florida that's awful. I don't think I would be able to ever live there. I would probally keel over with worry about storms.
Stay safe everyone.

At this point the only way I'd be even slightly comfortable living in Florida would be to own a house constructed of concrete, the way they are in Puerto Rico. I have a Puerto Rican colleague who told me about that. They build them that way because concrete construction (at least of the right kind) survives hurricanes better. I imagine it would probably also make the house a bit cooler to live in, but I could be wrong about that.

Here in Lynn the wind has picked up considerably, but it is still "manageable". I have a deck with French doors facing the nor'easter's wind and they leak, but so far all I'm doing is vigilantly keeping the towels in the dryer. So far, I'm okay. I have a view of the ocean, but I'm high enough and far enough away that flooding really isn't an issue for me (knock wood!!) A tsunami would be another matter altogether!

OK, it's 5:45 a.m. Monday & we're still in the house! We had water in the backyard last night so my garden might be toast but the house is fine. The police barracaded our street off about 6:00 p.m. last night. Nobody except residents in or out. Route #1 is flooded out to the east of us.

We've got a new Coastal Surge Warning for this morning's high-tide. And, we're another closer to tomorrow's astronomical high-tides so we only need 1-1/2' of surge today compared to yesterday's 2-1/2' for flooding. The warning lasts until 11:00 a.m.

Winds have picked up overnight...gusting over 50 mph this morning & still raining hard.

It's supposed to start clearing CT by noon or so today...thank goodness.

All of my gardening friends to the north...take this one seriously as it heads your way today. This has been a serious storm. Our pressure is currently at 28.80 & still dropping so the storm's center has not yet cleared our area.

How bad will our garden loses be after being flooded with salt water??

Tricia

Great, Tricia!

It's 7:17 am Monday here in Plymouth, and I've finished checking the house - a few minor leaks, but all the windows and glass doors are OK. No power though, it went off at 3:30 this morning (yes I was awake and saw the radio light go off).

Barometric pressure is at 28.88, I'll check it again later. Last night was like trying to sleep inside an aircraft engine. My windows usually block most sound, so it must have been much worse outside.

Wind advisory until 11 am, coastal flood warning until noon and then reinstated for the next high tide cycle tonight. Rain is letting up.

Kicking myself for not making coffee last night and putting it in the refrigerator.

Going off line for now to conserve my battery.

Claire

If you can boil water, you can make coffee. Just pour the hot water (carefully) over the coffee filter. Have figured that one out during past power outages, thank goodness I have a gas stove.

Very windy here with driving rain.

Good Morning, Kids,

Well, our little wood lot here in Brewster made it throught the storm with only a few branches down, nothing big. Wind was very gusty but, nothing sustained. The rain was heavy but we did not lose power.

I was awake a few times during the night but was surprised by how little was going on storm wise. And the best part...the phone did not ring in the middle of the night so I take it that the Red Cross did not need to open any shelters. That's always a good thing.

It looks like the bulk of the storm hit inland which is good for us Cape folks, not so good for the rest of you to the east and north of us...Plymouth, Boston & Lynn.

It will be interesting to check for any beach errosion at Nauset but for now the sky is getting a little brighter and the rain has stopped...holy crap...I think the sun is trying to make an appearance...

Mary...how are things up in Welfleet? And Tricia...I'll be leaving the Cape in about an hour for CT...should I toss a life raft your way as I pass Mystic? I hope you are dry and warm. York rose...I hope you have enough towels to make it through.

Sooey
10:47 A.M.
April 16, 2007

veilchen:

I spent years making coffee with a Melitta filter, and when I lived in NYC I had a gas stove too. In fact, when the lousy landlord screwed up the hot water (regularly), I used to just boil some water to wash with.

Unfortunately, I only have electric appliances here, and I'm not ready yet to go for Sterno or a camping stove.

The bottom line is, I can't boil water. And the furnace is off too.

I just checked the beach at high tide and no obvious erosion - I need to see low tide to find out if sand bars have shifted. The wind has noticeably died down, but no sun. The birds are coming out of their hidey holes.

Claire

I landed at Logan last night at about midnight during the storm. It was quite a ride. Lost one moderately sized pine tree which also took out an abrovitae hedge in the process. Other than that, no problem and no water in the basement which was a nice bonus. I returned from San Francisco which was ABSOLUTELY SPECTACULAR last week. I have been in the Bay area many times, but always in winter. It is high spring there now and this is the most lush time of year. Everything was in bloom: annuals, perennials, azaleas, rhodies, crabs, magnolias, and all sorts of subtropical trees and shrubs that I couldn't identify. And when you work all of that landscaping around the enormous redwoods, cyprus, and other native conifers, it is truly a striking landscape. Good news for us: I just checked the long range forecast for here, and the prediction if for WARMER THAN NORMAL CONDITIONS for the next few weeks, starting next weekend perhaps? It looks like a very compact spring this year--even more so than usual for New England.

Pretty wild and woolly here - our neighbor's 60 ft. pine that borders our two driveways is now on his roof - looks like the house sustained minimal damage, but I'll check up on him later. My WS containers, amazingly enough, appear to be all in place, but I haven't sloshed through the standing water in the yard to check up on them fully yet - but at least they didn't blow away! We're supposed to get a secondary round tomorrow - Rockman, I sure hope you're right about spring coming soon; I'm ready for it!

Haven't checked the numbers yet, but my bet is that wind gusts were well over 60 here last night. There are at least 3 trees down in the neighborhood, and we were without power for about 3 hours, but our fabulous NStar crews have us up and running again.

My electricity has only been on for the past hour. Practically the whole town was out. The wind sure was howling very early this morning. I'm working at a garden center for the season. They called Sunday and said don't come in as the place was flooded. Then they called this morning and said don't come in Tuesday as they had no power. We've been so busy putting things up to sell when spring decides to get here. Oh well, I'll go into my bookkeeping job tomorrow. I couldn't even clean the house today with no power and hot water.

My power was off for about 15 1/2 hours - came back on approx. 7 pm. Outage was sporadic - some neighbors out, another had power. I suspect two separate electric feeds for our street.

Computer curled up and refused to cooperate as soon as the battery got low.

Went out early for fish and chips (charging the cell phone in the car), figuring going to bed as soon as it got dark.

Started getting cold in the house, and I wasn't looking forward to getting out of a warm bed into frosty air.

rockman said "WARMER THAN NORMAL CONDITIONS for the next few weeks". I want to hear that again.

"WARMER THAN NORMAL CONDITIONS for the next few weeks".

"WARMER THAN NORMAL CONDITIONS for the next few weeks".

"WARMER THAN NORMAL CONDITIONS for the next few weeks".

Aah.

Claire

Wow, Claire...15.5 hours...yikes! I'm glad it's back on for you. Burrrrrr...I'm cold just thinking about it!

Everyone else OK? How about the folks in VT & NH & ME? They got hit with rain, wind and snow...I hope all is well.

Nature is so awesome! Strange some times...but still awesome.

sooey

Changed the towels before I went to work, but unavoidably the wood ledge got soaked during the day since I wasn't there to change the towels further.

Hopefully the finish won't be too ruined.......

(The doors need to be replaced anyway.....) Otherwise everything appears fine. There was no power outage here that I can perceive. The waves are causing very minor street flooding at one intersection of Lynn Shore Drive.

Fortunately the wind is down to normal levels!

I spoke with a colleague in New Jersey today. He works south of Newark and lives about 40 mins. further south. He said New Brunswick is very badly hit. Part of Route 1 is wrecked (& Route 1 is a hugely significant highway in that part of the world).

School is closed again today. I'm not overly optimistic about school tomorrow. The little creek that goes through our neighborhood has flooded two bridges, and a fairly major road. High tide was around 2 this morning, and that should have been about the worst of it. We are far enough inland that wind wasn't an issue, so the paper reported minimal power outages.

I have some wet towels in the cellar - I'll wait a day or two before I remove them since the storm is about to deal us a backhand blow as it slides away.

NWS Forecast Discussion

SYNOPSIS...
THE POWERFUL STORM CONTINUES TO HEAD OFF THE NEW ENGLAND
COAST. A SECONDARY LOW PRESSURE WILL PIVOT BACK OFF CAPE COD BY
LATE TODAY. THIS SECONDARY LOW WILL LIKELY BRING ANOTHER ROUND
OF STEADY BUT LIGHT PRECIPITATION TO MUCH OF THE AREA ON THROUGH
THIS EVENING. THEN...BOTH STORMS WILL SLOWLY PULL FURTHER SOUTH
AND EAST AND ONLY VERY GRADUALLY LOSE COMPLETE INFLUENCE ON OUR
WEATHER AS THE WORKWEEK WEARS ON.

I just went down to the beach again to check on the noon high tide.

Our house is on the top of a steep coastal embankment, about 40' from the top edge. The embankment is about 45' high and the high tide waves are now lapping about 40' from the bottom of the bank.

Usually, when I look out from the house at high tide I see some of the beach, but when the tide is this high, all I see is water down there. I have to go out to the edge and reassure myself that the water isn't eating away at the embankment. It isn't, but I keep checking. Don't want the house to slide down (it's happened around here).

I see a lot of buds coming up on spring bulbs I planted last year. I lost track of which I planted where (and I don't want to check my notes), so I'm looking forward to a nice surprise. Whenever spring actually gets here.

Claire

Wow, Claire...I don't blame you for checking. I think I would have to be out there every hour on the hour...checking the water level. Have homes been lost during storms in your area? Yikes...makes me think of the big storm of 93 (?). Several homes in Chatham were lost during that one.

Rain, wind and the ever shifting sands...you can't fight them.

Stay safe...

sooey

sooey:

Houses aren't lost, they just get closer and closer to the edge as erosion eats away the embankment. One house a few miles away slid down; others have been moved away from the edge to save them.

Our bank has been stable for years - due firstly to the installation of stone jetties on the beach (no longer PC) and due secondly to my parents' constant efforts to sow grass and dump plant materials on the slope. I remember as a kid sitting at the edge and spitting watermelon seeds over. Lawn clippings, oak leaves, pine needles - everything was thrown over, and there's mature oaks and cedars established there now. As the beach built up (jetty action), the beach grass started growing at the foot of the bank, and bayberries and rugosa roses are getting established.

So far we're fine, but there's always the fear of sea level rising because of global warming. And there's also problems of a drifting tidal channel flowing in and out of the nearby marsh which could undercut our property if it drifts too far.

Claire

Hey, Claire,

It sounds like your bank is as secure as it can be. There isn't much more you can do but plant and plant and plant. Roots Have worked for thousands of years and they will continue to work for thousands more.

I talked with my Brother who works in Chatham last night. He said the tide was so high that several homes were in trouble. The town DPW (?) had spent the day dumping sand at several locations, trying to creat a buffer until the tide went back out. They are the same locations, or whats left of them, that lost homes in the storm of '93 (?). That was the Nor'easter that took 9 or 12, can't remember which, homes. Homes that had stood for generations. The waves, tide and currents were so strong that it caused the break in the sand bar that had protected that part of the shore from the open ocean. When that sandbar was breached, the protective buffer was lost and the homes fell into the ocean. There was much talk at the time about building sea walls and rock jetties, but in the end, enough people came to the realization that there was nothing that could be done to stop the sea. It was decided that, what was to be, would just have to be. No sense in fighting with Mother Nature...she will always win in the end.

Interesting studies have been done about the reality of building rock jetties and what it does to a beach or shoreline. Nature is awesome.

So keep spitting those watermelon seeds over that bank! You never have to worry about taking excess vegitation, cuttings or clippings to the dump! Lucky you...we have to pay by the pound to get rid of ours.

Sooey