Storms don’t always coincide with high tides, but today’s nor’easter did. Tide was 2.2m (7.2 ft) late this morning (see this link for tide chart), and near the causeway to Oak Island the road was covered with several inches of water. In 8 years of watching storms here, this was the highest storm surge we’ve [...]
Around noon, it brightened up, the wind died down and then shifted, and blue sky started to move in. We weren’t expecting a well-defined eye, but when we saw blue sky, we got excited. Was it really the eye? Perhaps it was just the sky just clearing after the brunt of the rain had passed, [...]
At 11 a.m., as the hurricane approaches, the powerful southeasterly wind is pushing water into the bay, causing a storm surge. We’re lucky that the tide is low. Otherwise, some coastal areas would be flooded and there would be damage to infrastructure. At Western Shore, surf’s up! This is usually a quiet and peaceful place, [...]
We woke early to the sound of the wind, and the news that Hurricane Earl is tracking more easterly than predicted last night, and should pass us directly overhead. Right now it is just south of Yarmouth and has not made landfall yet. Environment Canada calls it a marginal category 1 hurricane, though some other [...]
I was chasing rainbows again yesterday. So what exactly does the end of the rainbow look like? In this picture, the rainbow comes down in front of the trees and lands in the water. Actually, there used to be an island there; now it’s a shoal, where seagulls and cormorants like to roost. Someone, apparently, [...]
The was a brush fire on Oak Island today with fire departments from half a dozen communities responding. We couldn’t see the fire from the causeway, just the helicopter scooping up and dropping seawater on it. No serious damage, just lots of excitement, and a traffic jam of firetrucks making their way over the causeway.
After what will surely be remembered as the great November snowstorm of 2008, I went for a walk this morning in crystalline -8 degrees(C). From Crandall Point I looked out on the still waters of Mahone Bay, the open ocean behind, and counted six boats between Oak Island and Tancook. I thought of our sailboat, [...]
