So far this summer we have had drought, monsoons, record breaking heat, drowning humidity and now a plague of mosquitoes. Why not throw in a hurricane for good measure?

Or maybe frogs dropping from the sky?

You know, it's funny. The Weather Service loves to preach disaster, it's their bread and butter I suppose.

I realized it last year when we had a "severe weather alert". When I read it, it said we were going to get "up to 3 inches of snow". Ahem. Since when is 3 inches of snow in Michigan any kind of severe weather, heck, that's a normal day!

I also saw a Chicago headline that I liked, it said in Washington DC called the storm last year "snowmageddon" but in Chicago they got the same storm with the equivalent amounts of snow and just called it "Tuesday". LOL

Too many times I've watched the weather service for big storms that never materialize, but again, that's their living so it's exciting for them, I suppose.

Anyway, get ready, it IS storm season for everyone. That's fires in California, tornadoes here in the Midwest, hurricane on the coast. Stay safe, everyone, we can control a lot of things, but the weather does what it will.

Annie

Oh please no more frogs! haha!

Annie I agree so much with what you posted.

You're right, Annie. We used to get 70+ MPH winds in Colorado quite frequently rarely causing damage. However, here in New England those same wind speeds cause lots of damage. That's because NE has all the trees that get blown down taking the power lines with them. We don't have a lot of that modern underground utilities stuff... :)

I don't know anything about Chicago snow but 3' of snow in Denver is real different than 3' of snow here in Mystic. In Denver, it's dry, fluffy snow that's easily plowed. Many times, Denver doesn't even thoroughly plow all of the roads. Here though it's another story entirely. Our heavy snow comes off the Atlantic & it's always like concrete due to the high water content. That's the same type storm DC received last winter known as a Nor'easter. It's typically a low pressure system from the midwest that merges with a secondary low that forms off the Delmarva Penninsula. The resulting Nor'easter then barrels up the eastern seaboard spinning Atlantic water at us (could be either rain or snow).

Another difference between Denver & the northeast cities for snow removal are the streets themselves. Denver has modern streets. Here, many of our main streets are the paved over roads from the colonial days...they are extremely narrow difficult to maneuver even without snow. Some are granite cobblestones that have worn payment over the top with parts of the cobblestones as the driving surface...very hard to plow. Add to that DC doesn't normally receive lots of heavy snowfalls so they don't have the removal equipment that, say, Boston has. Our SIL was in DC during last winter's storms working on a Potomac diving job. He said he couldn't drive anywhere...had to hoof it around. He's from Houston. He hunkered down & stayed inside. lol

I love weather. I guess it's the boater in me. That's why we have weather radar on our marine GPS. We want to know there's a T-storm heading our way before we hear the thunder...preferably before we leave the dock. :)

Also, living right on the coast it's never a good idea to be casual about coastal storms whether a hurricane or a Nor'easter. A Nor'easter is often referred to as a "winter hurricane". Truthfully, we worry more about being blown away & flooded from a Nor'easter than we do a hurricane although the last bad one to hit NE made landfall in Groton right across the river from us & Mystic suffered tremendous destruction. I would much rather put up the hurricane shutters a dozen times & not need them than not do it once & regret the decision.

As a boater, we also need to make early decisions for our boat. Do we haul or stay in the water? We own our slip. It's a dockominium. There's only 115 slips. But, it still takes time for the boat lift to haul 115 boats, get them on blocks & secured...days not hours. I know there are other eastern seaboard boaters here on the forum that have to make the same decisions. It's expensive to haul so you don't do it casually.

This particular low-pressure system is now a depression, however, it looks like it will hit some shear in the next couple days. I'm sure happy to hear that because I don't like the looks of the cone. Of course, this far out the margin or error is something like 250-300 miles. We'll keep an eye on its progress & strength.

Well the weather weenies have said we will get heavy rains....and they have been right...and a dam broke and fields and towns are flooded peopole piling furniture and carpet on the street....
Maybe a tropical depression will change the pattern here in the midwest.
And yeah...I have lived on the east coast....remember in New jersey, it was horrible when the temperature dropped below 10...and a cold spell when there was a week when the temperature didn't get above freezing.
Then I went to School about 150 mines north...and it didn't start to get "cold" until the temperature dropped below minus 10 and when it got above 32 we knew spring was coming.
It alldepends on what youa re used to.

Tricia, How right you are regarding the same weather in different places. I live in Houston and when it snows here the entire city shuts down. Like you mentioned, we simply aren't equipped to deal with it. We don't have snow plows or snow tires or whatever else we would need.

I am always amazed when Annie writes that she walks to work in the snow - eek!! LOL

I work for an petroleum trading company and any storm that hits the gulf directly affects our business. So during this time of year we get daily updates on Atlantic activity, at minimum. If there's something going on, we get them much more frequently than once a day!

This storm should become "Colin" in a very short time.

Tricia, the snow on the East Coast is very similar to the snow on the "third coast". We (and Chicago) have Lake Michigan, so we have the same cold, wet, "turn into cement and weigh a zillion pounds" kind of snow. So snow in DC really is the same as snow in Chicago. However, Chicago is really good at moving it, because they tend to get more overall, so what it took DC a week to move, Chicago moved in a day and a half.

As for those "nor' easters" we also get them off Lake Michigan but we just call 'em "storms". Remember, we have tides and waves and currents like the ocean does, it's really a small fresh water ocean itself. So we get 90MPH winds and 20 below zero cold and snow and multi-million dollar houses slide off the banks and into The Lake. We move the snow, put on gloves and shrug our shoulders and hope that anyone who is silly enough to build that close to the water has really good insurance! And, like the ocean, people wonder whether to leave their boats in or take them out. The smart ones take them out, although I think Ivana Trump's yacht was gone from Pentwater long before winter hit, LOL.

It's why people from Colorado who have been skiing their whole lives can end up with hypothermia or frostbite in Michigan, it's the wet, not the cold. As LindaC said, it's all in what you're used to.

May, you say you are amazed when I talk about walking to work, but I spent that week in Texas and thought I was going to melt most of the time. I just kept thinking "how the heck do people live here in the summer when it gets REALLY hot..."

Annie

We don't have a boat so advanced information isn't as critical. To save sanity, we don't worry about storms until they get close enough that the local weather people can tell us about projected paths. While I'm not complacent, and I do watch the weather, the pulse doesn't change until it becomes apparent that it might visit my area. That will give us plenty of time to do as we must. These storms usually don't catch us by surprise like snow storms or tornadoes. But in 2004, they surely tried to do just that!

how the heck do people live here in the summer when it gets REALLY hot...

We stay indoors! LOL
Nah, just like you, we're used to it. Went to Miller Outdoore Theatre Saturday night for Much Ado About Nothing. It's a free outdoor theater - you can sit in the covered seats or in your lawnchairs or blankets on the hill. It was purdy hot. We got there about 6:15 pm and the sun was beatin' down. But aside from wearing a hat to protect my head, I was fine.

Sun went down, play went on and we had fun. But Annie, you WOULD have melted! It remained warm of course, although the breezes came through enough to keep it "comfortable". Well comfortable for us crazy loonies who live down hear in the heat!! LOL

Annie,

"As for those "nor' easters" we also get them off Lake Michigan but we just call 'em "storms"."

I didn't do a good job of explaining Nor'easter. You don't get them in Michigan. They are like winter hurricanes. The nasty ones even have an enclosed "eye". They are more destructive than a typical west-east low pressure system moving across the country or down from Canada.

We'll get a low pressure area moving across the country from the west, another system developing in the Gulf area, & a secondary low developing off the east coast (frequently the Delmarva). The Nor'easter sucks moisture up from the Gulf Stream dragging copious quantities of tropical moisture. Here in Mystic, we are often on the "rain" side of the Nor'easter. The storm's center frequently passes right overhead or just slightly to our east (then we get snow). The Nor'easter has a much longer fetch than Lake Michigan so it's pushing a lot more water. The one that caused the flooding in Mystic this spring had a moisture feed that went well below Puerto Rico.

Here's a description...you can see there's a significant difference between a Michigan winter storm & a Nor'easter.

There are, like all storms, varying degrees of intensity. Nor'easters like the "Perfect Storm" don't happen every year...thank goodness. You can see by the Wiki article though that we get nasty ones quite frequently.

/tricia

Here is a link that might be useful: Wiki - Nor'easter

But, Tricia, from that very article it says that a "nor'easter" is basically a bad storm, the name simply has to do with location, so it appears that the biggest difference is that it's on the East Coast.

"However, in common parlance, "nor'easter" is often used to refer to any strong rain or snow storm that occurs in the northeast part of the U.S.A., regardless of season, prevailing wind direction, direction of storm travel, or the geographic origin of the storm. This "bad storm" usage has even spread to local TV channel newscasts, at least in the greater New York City area, which makes the common use of the term "noreaster" all the more confused. Within common parlance, even if a particular storm has a generally rotating formation and a portion of it presents northeasterly winds over some part of the northeast, other sections of the same storm may be presenting prevailing winds from other directions over other parts of the northeast but the storm will still be called a nor'easter."

If you check with the National Weather Service you'll find that there have actually been hurricanes on the Great Lakes, and storms that do not meet that definition but have winds in excess of 75 MPH, which is hurricane strength.

Since we went to Wikipedia in the first place, here are historical storms from the Great Lakes. Of course, it's from a shipping and boating perspective, which is why it tells how many ships were lost and men dead. Heck, Lake Huron even had a cyclone!

Annie

Here is a link that might be useful: Storms on the Great Lakes

Whatever, Annie. I know Michigan gets heavy weather & you grow the best produce in the country. But, I still do not believe you get Nor'easteresque storms nor do I believe Lake Michigan performs the same as the Jet Stream & Labrador Current during a storm. Every area is unique. Like those from Michigan, New Englanders are no strangers to fickle, changing, & often extreme weather conditions. Every state I've ever lived in has had the same weather saying..."If you don't like the weather wait 5 minutes & it will change!" Well, except SoCA. :) And even there I've been stuck at work for 2 days 'cause of floods.

/tricia

Het Tricia ~~~Your boating buddy here on the Chesapeake Bay, who like you, understands a Nor'easter ~ and lived thru the 3 back to back blizzards we got last winter:). We admit that we are not equipped to handle that much snow - and we just do not have a place to put it, when it does get moved! Our infrastructure & roads are not suited for snow removal equipment.

I am watching the storm you mentioned ~ and appreciate the heads up. Those of us who have boats do have added responsibilities and decisions to make, and all of the extra work & preparations. Living on the east coast is different, and for us, we also have to deal with the damaging surge-unfortunately, you also know about that.

Anywhere you live on the water and have boaters, storms of any kind have the potential to be deadly. 2 summers ago, we lost a very, very dear friend during a sailboat race when a squall hit & he was swept overboard. This was in 'my river' in front of my house. My husband has crewed on that boat for years. There were many boats in the quick storm, very close by & he could not be saved. Last Sunday, we were hit with another deadly thunderstorm that came out of nowhere (!) - -430,000 people without power - 77 rescues on the water nearby, and sadly a man died from electrocution when the lightening hit the water - not him- nearby as he was trying to get to shore on his jetski.
We take storm threats seriously. We hope we have enough warning to make safe decisions. Thanks for the heads up!

Here's the latest.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tropical Storm Colin

Agreed, Tricia, whatever. Every part of the country has their own weather anomalies. The West Coast has earth quakes, the East coast "nor'easters". The gulf has hurricanes, the midwest has tornadoes and floods. My part of Michigan gets about 130 inches of snow per year, but we move it and we're used to it so we're good at it. One inch of snow shuts down Elery's sister in Tennessee because they have no equipment or experience to remove it.

Saying that one is more significant than any other weather event is like saying your peanut allergy is more important than someone else's seafood allergy. They're all significant, they're all dangerous, they all cause power outages and deaths. A flood in Mystic is no more or less severe than a flood in Iowa, but in Mystic you lose your boat, in Iowa you lose a food source for thousands of people. Storms in more heavily populated areas by scale impact more people, so if we have a power outage that affects 4,000 people in the middle of winter it's not even newsworthy, but if Boston has a power outage that affects 400,000 people, it's everywhere on the news. It's a matter of scale, those big numbers make much better news.

And speaking of natural disasters, anyone who is close to the fires in California, BE CAREFUL.

Annie

I have lived through a few Nor-easters on the beach and a few hurricanes too.....and if I had to describe one I would say it's most similar to a Midwestern blizzard but with rain.
As for flooding parts of northern Iowa got 8 inches on top of already saturated ground. I took a drive in the country last week and some of the crops on higher ground look very very good! But some on the river bottom, what normally gives the greatest yield per acre were under water....and had been for weeks...no crop at all there.
I don't know where all the moisture is coming from....because here we are nowhere near any lake of any size nor certainly and ocean....but it keeps coming....and they are forecasting "very heavy" rains tonight.
And yes...I am whining!

And this is why I live in Oregon..........
I won't say "never" but very, very, very rare to see any of the storm types listed above.
On the "wet side" where I live, there's not nearly the fire danger that there is on So.Cal. or even the eastern side of Oregon.
Rarely do we have an earthquake, much less feel it.
And.....hardly any really bad "critters" like poisonous snakes, etc.

But don't tell everybody, OK?
I'm OK with all of my CF buddies moving here, but not EVERYBODY!! LOL!

Deanna (who snivels over 3 inches of rain in 24 hours)

Gonzo. Colin is no longer. Long live Colin!

There'll be another one....
Glad Colin died...or did he just fade away?? LOL!
Linda c

He just faded away as any self respecting storm should, Linda! And yes there will be more.

The house behind us is owned by a New Jersey couple. They visit when school is out and they will be here next week. She is absolutely a basket case when a storm shows up off the Africa coast. I've had to talk her down off the ceiling a couple of times with the message not to worry till you see the whites of their eyes. I've taken this message to heart, because with all the storm activity, a sane person wouldn't be sane any longer if they worried about every storm that was tossed off the shore of Africa. This attitude allows me to continue my every day life without more stress than it needs.

Has she ever experienced a hurricane at the beach? Maybe after the first one she will realize that unless it's a direct hit by a category 4 or greater it's not too bad....and really exciting!

Let's see... Ike made landfall as a strong Category 2 in Galveston. I live about 50 miles inland of that. I would neither call it "not too bad" nor "exciting". It was scary and freaky.

And Hurricane Alicia, Category 3 in 1983, which I also experienced, was similarly not fun. Maybe I'm a wimp but I certainly don't wish that particular experience on anyone and would never tell anyone that it's exciting and not bad!

Glad Colin dissipated but there is still a chance for it to regenerate into a tropical storm and bring a lot of rain to the east coast. And of course, we're still in August, with four months of hurricane season to go.

I do agree that there's no reason to fret unnecessarily about every storm that forms in the Atlantic! There are just TOO many of them and as I said above, in my business, we are acutely aware of them.

Ya gotta take a middle of the road approach. Be aware, be prepared but don't overreact.

Annie, the one thing I didn't like about living in Grand Rapids was the summer storms. Of course I wasn't overly fond of the lake effect snow storms either.

Moe loved them though. He grew up in Windsor, Ontario, which has the highest number of days per year with lightning in Canada.

Ann

I was going to ask .... Linda have you ever personally experienced a category 4? What about a category 2? If so you might describe it. A category 2 made me a believer. Scary and freaky, indeed. I've seen what a 4 does and would never voluntarily stay in place expecting if one was on the way. I would be on the road north to Atlanta.

I'm not saying anyone has to experience a strong hurricane. For heavens sake, respect them, keep you eyes on them, but don't tie yourself up in knots unless you know it going to visit your neighborhood or close to it. At that point, leaving town might be a good idea.

Katrina was a Cat 3 at landfall ---- that's why so many people were caught off guard on the Mississippi Coast with her. The saying there is that Hurricane Camille (1969, Cat 5) killed more people in 2005 because everyone assumed that nothing could be as bad as Camille. Everyone there knew exactly where the high water lines were from Camille, and if you were further inland than that you didn't evacuate. Katrina surpassed all of that. You can't just depend on Category strength of the storms, there are lots of other factors and they are just bad.

I was in Mississippi for Hurricane George. The storm moved in and stalled over us. Our house was under the eye, so it was completely calm. My cousins were about 7 miles away and they got battered for hours and hours until the storm just fell apart (we never got the back side of that storm). We had minimal damage at our house (a few trees down and fences gone), but they had a lot more damage than you would expect from a Cat 1or 2 because the storm stalled on top of them for about 8 hours. Totally unpredictable.

After living on the Outer Banks of NC for 8 yrs. we had all too much experience with hurricanes! It is the main reason we've moved inland a bit, to where we are now. We stayed for all, but I have to tell you "respect" is the key word! We had Cat 2 hurricanes that caused more destruction and damage than the CAT 4's. It all depeded where it made landfall! I will tell you that anything over a CAT 2, I'm outta here!
The snow was quite a different story, although infrequent, 2 inches shut the entire area down for a week! Coming from the Winters in Pa. we always had a good laugh!

Ann T, I love a good storm, but not so much that I'd chase a tornado or anything that stupid, and I doubt that I'd stay through a hurricane or one of those Great Lakes cyclones. Blizzards? Eh, if the visibility gets to zero, you stay home. When it stops snowing, you shovel. (grin) When your power goes out (not IF it goes out, WHEN it goes out) you start the generator or go stay with someone who has one or be prepared to burn the furniture.

I do love to stand on the pier and watch the storms come in over Lake Michigan, but I get the heck off the pier when the waves reach 12 feet or so and the wind hits about 50 or 60 MPH, then you get sandblasted! The lightning starts and it's time to go too, I'm afraid. I'll watch the lightning from the comfort and dryness of the Jeep, thanks!

A lot of people do get washed off the pier because they have no respect for the power of The Lake. Take those 12 or 14 foot or bigger waves, add some good solid rip currents and you're pretty much not going to be found for a few weeks. I do know some darned fools, though, that will grab a surfboard the minute the storms get the waves cranked up...

Annie

We left late yesterday morning & just got back a few hours ago from spending a couple days in NY doing the doctor rounds thing. I'm glad Colin fizzled.

That said, we will never be cavalier nor casual about storm warnings. The day that happens is the day we need to haul forever.

Annie, I tried to explain the difference between a Nor'easter & a mid-western storm. Obviously, I failed. The next time you get a winter hurricane give me a shout out. I'm always trying to learn more about weather to make me a better first mate & sometimes captain. It is the difference in the storm systems & how they behave that interests me not how much snow is left on the ground.

Magothyrivergirl, I'm sorry about the loss of your friend. To have it happen in front of your house & on a boat your DH has crewed is awful. Those pop-up storms are so tough. Nothing on the radar & then...wham! We lose at least one boat here in the Race every year. This season, we've already lost a 52' tug. Fortunately, the crew was rescued by nearby fishing boats & the USCG. Tow Boat US eventually claimed salvage.

Here's a couple pictures from our last trip to your waters. DH took the first 2 pixs. Our routine is that I captain leaving the dock until we reach the harbor buoy or are past the breakers then DH takes over the helm. DH casts off & brings in the fenders. We reverse roles to dock. He captains & I get us tied off. So, I'm at the helm when these were taken. :) It reminds me of that old boat poem...

Not my job to run the boat; the horn I cannot blow; It's not my job to say how far the boat's allowed to go. It's not my job to throttle down, or even clang the bell - but let the damn thing hit the dock & see who catches H@ll! :)

We have always received great hospitality in your waters. You live in a beautiful place! Should you ever venture our way I hope we can return that hospitality.

Do you recognize this cove? I can't remember the name & I'm too lazy to check the log. lol

I'm sure you will recognize this bridge! I stayed at the helm through the canal. There was a SCA but the canal was like glass...that all changed when we got to the bay. It was a following wind though so we surfed all the way to Cape May. :(

We still plot our course the old-fashioned way outside home waters. Never know when those electronics are going to go poof! Recognize the chart? (zoom in - it's Deleware Bay) BTW, in case you're wondering, we're singing our boat theme song...Willie's 'Whiskey River'!

The last extremely destructive hurricane here was Carol (1954) - a Cat 3. This NOAA summary makes mention of Mystic. We've had lots of remnants since bringing as much as 18" of rain but, of course, no surge or wind with a remnant. People don't typically think of NE as being at hurricane risk. They're wrong. The thing with NE hurricanes is that they get caught in the Jet Stream & move so rapidly...there's not very much time to prepare if you wait until it reaches the eastern seaboard. H. Carol moved from Cape Hatteras to Connecticut in just 12 hours. So, we pay attention as soon as something develops & start reviewing our plan.

Let's hope this season is kind to the US.

/tricia

Here is a link that might be useful: H. Carol - NOAA

I was about 75 miles south of where Carol made landfall in August of '54.

We love watching bad weather, too. Our current house has large windows and a deck facing the eastern plains of Colorado and Nebraska, where there is often wonderful "light" shows in the sky as the storms roll across the plains.

My children were just 2 and 3 when they experienced their first hurricane and the 3 year old found it to be so exciting ..... at first. We were at my mom's house with about 20 other family members and he was running all over with the flash light, listening to the wind blow harder and harder. Then just before the eye moved across the wind got really strong and the pressure dropped---it was obvious things had gotten worse. The house began feeling kind of like a freight train was right outside the door and my son was suddenly terrified. Up until that point he thought it was all fun and games, but all on his own he figured out that this was something really serious and he began to panic. It was interesting watching him that night.

dlynn, I've never been in a hurricane, but when I was in high school the school was hit by a tornado. It was very scary to watch the windows shattering, the glass shards being blown inwards and then seeing the roof lift off the building over our heads...

About a minute later, the storm whistles went off, so much for advance warning. And just as your description sounds, it sounded like a freight train outside, the building trembled and it felt like all the air just got sucked out of the building, it was even hard to breathe. Very strange. Of course, our big concern at school was that it had hit the local Dairy Queen, which was closed for some time after for repairs. It was a favorite lunch spot close to the school so students were not pleased. Don't you just hate it when that happens? (grin)

The second tornado I went through, I spent in my basement at home with my girls and the WonderWeiner, hoping the house wouldn't come down on top of us. It didn't, although we had lots of broken windows, uprooted trees and and the shingles and siding were ripped off. Amanda's bikini, though, stayed safely hanging over the rail of the back deck, so all was not lost!

In spite of that, I still love a good storm, but they scare Ashley.

Tricia, no hurricane here right now but a few weeks ago I had the privilege of experiencing a seiche in Ludington, which is very interesting if you are into weather phenomena. I was just standing on the pier and the water seemed to be receding instead of the usual in and out flow of the waves. After about half an hour it was clear the water WAS receding. Eventually, it started coming back up but people were standing on the beach about 10 or 15 feet out where there had been water just half an hour before. Seiches are usually pretty small, creating waves of a couple of feet, but one hit Chicago once that was over 10 feet tall and caused some damage. Sort of like a tsunami or tidal wave, according to this particular surfer.

Annie

Here is a link that might be useful: Seiche

Yeeee!! I've never heard of a seiche. Had to look it up. Very interesting!

I am happy to say that I've never experienced a tornado and hope never to be caught anywhere near one. They are extremely scary and can be very destructive. Unlike hurricanes, there is either very little or no warning. We do get them here, usually during a bad storm. Hurricanes seem to spawn them as well. Yuk!

Looks like it's getting better organized and might be a tropical storm again tonight.

Ya, I just read that it is expected to be declared a TS either tonight or tomorrow and expected to possibly hit Bermuda and far southeastern Canada while steering clear of the US east coast.

Speaking of those pop-up storms that magothyrivergirl noted, we had one this morning. Didn't look like much on the radar. Then it blew up just to our west & we got clobbered good. Happened around 8:45 a.m. & lasted until around 9:30 a.m. We had a severe t-storm warning issued. I was sitting at the computer watching the radar while I was reading here. Then, over the thunder & torrential rain we heard the sirens & I said, "Wow, do you think the nuke plant got hit? Should we be doing something? Nah, but wonder why the sirens are blarring? Oh, they're stopping. Hmmm, that was strange." Just a few minutes ago, on our local 5:00 p.m. news, heard that Mystic had a tornado warning (not a watch...a real warning). So, that's what the sirens were about. Darn weather channel didn't have it posted on the web site. Fortunately, nothing touched down. We've got trees & power lines down though & we were without cable, internet, & phone (we have Comcast phone) for a couple hours. The tree folks are coming tomorrow to prune & cable two maple trees for us. We don't get many tornados in CT but we've had at least 2 that I can remember this season...both west well of us.

I'd never heard of a seiche either. I did witness a small tsunami in Huntington Beach when I was a teenager. It's arrival was all over the news & I'm a bit of a firetruck chaser so I headed to the beach with Dad to watch. It took out Huntington Pier & flooded the homes across Hwy 1. We couldn't get close enough to actually see it...just the after effects. I don't think anybody was hurt.

Our dew point was 75 degrees early afternoon so we've been getting quite a few t-storms coming across NE today. We've got friends that left for Block Island with their boat last weekend. They're due back tonight. They didn't file a detailed float plan so we don't know exactly when they were planning on getting underway. We've been a bit concerned about their safety all day. Dave's an experienced captain though so we're hoping they stayed put & head back tomorrow. DH nailed a note to their dock that if they do get in tonight & decide to head home...honk as they drive by our house so we know they're safe. If we don't hear them by 9:00 p.m. we'll try getting in touch on their cell but don't know if they're within range? So if they don't answer it won't necessarily mean anything. Our dockmaster knows they're out there somewhere so he's also going to try reaching them periodically via VHF. Our kids insist we file a float plan when we're on a cruise.

Annie, here off Montauk a bear of a storm can & does kick up 50'+ seas. During the Perfect Storm, IIRC, there were 100' seas. In theory, a quality sea-worthy power boat 'should' be able to handle seas the width of their beam in the hands of an experienced captain. In our case, that would be 14'. There's NO WAY I would want to be in 14' seas. We did have one trip back from Maine (known for nasty waters) where we had consistent 5-7 footers the entire trip. It beat us nearly to death! We were towing our dinghy & we lost it's engine. The engine was on mounts too. Everything out of the lockers, off the shelves, refrigerator/freezer emptied...what a mess! I've never been so happy to see the Cape Cod Canal. It was a smooth ride home south of Cape Cod. It wasn't even during a storm...just a little wind that had been blowing over a long fetch.

I heard this morning that they might lower the number of anticipated named storms for this season. That would be nice but all it takes is one.

With either a hurricane or Nor'easter there's something called the "Mariners' 1-2-3 Rule". It's a guideline taught to mariners for severe storm tracking and prediction. It refers to the long-term NHC forecast errors of 100-200-300 nautical miles at 24-48-72 hours. The danger area to be avoided is constructed by expanding the forecast path by a radius equal to the respective hundreds of miles plus the forecast wind radii (size of the storm at those hours). I've been studying these Nor'easters for 8-9 years getting buoy data & checking it against the rule. It's pretty accurate (not that I'd EVER want to test it in real time!). The NHC includes a Mariners' 1-2-3 map next to the track forecasts on their website. I do it just for fun & learning 'cause I like weather.

/tricia

"A flood in Mystic is no more or less severe than a flood in Iowa, but in Mystic you lose your boat, in Iowa you lose a food source for thousands of people."

How provicial. I wonder - if the boat went down with food on it, would that count for more in your book??? Maybe some livestock - would that get your dander up??

Do you think, perhaps, people might be in peril in a storm. My god - they're going down but they haven't planted any corn. What were they thinking??????

oops - make that "provincial"

guess we all make mistakes

Seagrass, you made your point. Is it worse to lose a boat, or a home? What about your job? We're not going there about lives because now news is so widespread that few people die.

I live on an island between the ocean and mainland in Central FL. I understand the risks. When we had Charlie in 2004, I sat in the waiting room of the local hospital while my husband got his first chemo treatment. I was watching the hurricane bare down on Daytona. When we left the hospital, my husband said "we're got to get out". I said, "love, we can't. I can't drive for more than an hour and you can't drive at all." He looked at me and cried. When we got home, we cleared shoes out of the master closet and pulled our double size guest mattress into the closet. I put some sheets on it and we laid down. Luckily, when Charlie hit, my husband was totally asleep (chemo is taxing) and I was awake. Wailing winds, trees bent to the ground (I did go to the front room and look). Our experiences are not identical. Mine was terrifying; his was comatose. He was lucky! At least for this. The eye passed over us. Winds picked up and sounded like boxers hitting the walls. This wonderful little house didn't budge or break. It protected us and kept us safe.

This was a top of a Cat. 1 hurricane when it hit us. Significant emotional event? You bet! We lost 3 roof tiles. Lost those same tiles 2 other times in the next 2 months with 3 different hurricanes. We left town those times. We will stay if it looks to be a glancing blow. We will never stay if it is a direct hit. We are in a position that we should know early enough to take appropriate action.

Seagrass....the difference is did you lose your livlihoood or your recreational boat. If you are a commercial fisher man and you lose your boat, it's comparable to losing your crop in a farming community.
In the midwest there has been enormous loss due to storms this summer.
And the food you might pack on your boat in no way compares to the thousands of acres of grain, which will not only provide a livlihood for those who planted the grains but also feed the animals that will become food for your plate.
Provincial is know knowing where your food comes from.

Here is a link that might be useful: Crop loss

Linda, there are other ways to lose your livelihood other than being a commercial fisherman should a storm take out several thousand recreational boats here in my town. Many ways.

Just a few from the top of my head...marine mechanics, shipwrights, fiberglass specialists, electronics sales/installation/service, rigging specialists, canvas specialties (several types), upholstery specialists, stainless steel fabricators, crane owners & operators, marina owners, dockmasters, deck hands, fuel, pump-out service companies, painters, those who do the shrink-wrapping for winter storage, Tow Boat US franchise owners & their employees, places like West Marine & the marine salvage yard suffer from greatly reduced sales when the boats are not being used, restaurants & their employees (if boaters are not using their boats they aren't in town needing food), hotels, caterers (we have many very large yachts here all summer. They come up from the Caribbean to, hopefully, avoid hurricanes & utilize local caterers every week.), & retail in general. Boaters' purchases are the mainstay of our downtown area.

Recreational boating is big business in the Great Lakes area also as it is all along the country's coasts (west, Gulf, & east). People earn their livelihoods in other ways besides farming. And those other livelihoods also ripple through the entire economy. Despite their farms the mid-west is suffering economically right now. So are Connecticut & Rhode Island. IMO, every job we have in America is important...not just farmers.

My town lives or dies by the health of our local marine industries that includes oyster bed farmers, scallop divers, commercial fisherman (Stonington, our government jurisdiction, has the last commercial fishing fleet in CT.), sport fishing charter boats, & yes...recreational boaters and all those who support the marine industry that I noted above. The world's largest marine museum is located in Mystic for a reason. As I've said before, Mystic's life blood is the sea.

Devastating storms devastate people in many different ways. No matter what you call them, no matter if it is wind, rain, water or snow, no matter where in the country they hit, no matter the livelihood of the region.

A devastating storm shows no mercy.

Which is exactly what I said, I thought. It's like saying one life threatening disease is worse than another, it's all devastating, it's all bad and it's no worse because it's NewEengland than it is because it's Iowa or Michigan or Florida or Canada.

Yeah, I know, I'm provincial, but that's OK. I know I'm not as important as those in other more populated or well to do areas. Jessica once said that everyone in California thought everyone in the midwest were hicks. I told her it was OK, we ARE. That's why I live here, I'm too provincial to live anywhere else.

Annie

Annie, I don't remember saying that, and if I did, or inferred as much, I apologize, I was raised better than that. I don't know any Californians who think that Midwesterners are hicks. I must have said something in our nine days together to strike a nerve and keep this one in your memory, so I just want to set the record straight as to my true attitude. I've lived in too many places around the world - I appreciate many peoples and cultures across our country. I truly have no memory of that comment and I'm sorry that it keeps coming up.

Jessica, we were driving somewhere and you were surprised that we had something or someone specific coming to Grand Rapids for a concert, but I don't rememnber who, but it was either opera or symphony. And yes, you did hit a nerve.

My response was that it was OK, that some people in Michigan thought California was like a big bowl of granola, with mostly fruits, nuts and flakes, but that I thought both stereotypes were wrong.

The reason I mentioned losing a boat as opposed to losing farmland was that Tricia specifically mentioned that they would have to decide whether or not to move the boats and I know she's not a commercial fisherman. And, here most people have insurance on their boats but you can't insure crop land against natural disaster, just as the shrimpers in the gulf can insure their equipment, but they can't insure their harvest, or the lobster boats in Maine can be replaced, but the lobster can't.

I lost my head for just a minute there, thinking that maybe the rest of the world might be of any importance, so I apologize.

Annie

I have a very vague recollection about that conversation, it was five years ago. It sounds like it was MY surprise that struck a nerve. Again, I am sorry. Annie, your friendship means a lot to me. If there is anything else I have said, and I do tend to say stupid things when I am with friends (and even not...), please let me know immediately and offline. I don't want you to go another five years holding on to something that should be addressed.

Annie, I've been thinking about this conversation for several days. I started the thread with just a note that there was what looked at the time to be a large storm brewing in the Atlantic.

Your first post read, to me, like you were belittling the threat of coastal storms & diminishing their importance. But it was more than that. To me, it read like you were demeaning to the people of the eastern seaboard who are subject to these storms by implying they are wimps. That got my dander up & I inappropriately became defensive.

It also felt like somehow you & Linda were saying that the loss of a recreational boat is unimportant. That's like saying the loss of Chase's cottage would be unimportant.

Our boat is insured, Annie, for a pre-determined amount agreed to by both ourselves & the insurance company based on a marine survey. For that payout though we have to do certain steps to mitigate loss. Hauling our boat is not like hauling our 22' lobster boat. With that boat we just ran it onto a trailer & tossed a tarp over the whole shebang. This boat doesn't go on a trailer & has a lot of systems that have to be dealt with before it can be hauled. It's a lot of work & takes time. There's also a fee for the lift, placing the boat on blocks, securing, etc. We can't wait until a storm is 6 hours away before we make a decision to haul. Nor can we wait to prepare the house. Insurance also requires we take certain actions to mitigate. We are also in a Class A mandatory evacuation zone so we do not make the decision how long we'll stay to secure our property. Our local authorities make that decision. We have to be ready before they decide it's time to tell us to leave. So, we are not in a position to be as cavalier as you regarding the threat of large storms.

I apologize if you felt either offended or slighted by my post to those on the eastern seaboard.

/tricia

This conversation has stuck in my craw for several days as well. Posted by Annie on Sunday: "I lost my head for just a minute there, thinking that maybe the rest of the world might be of any importance, so I apologize."

Apologize because you don't find the rest of the world important?? What are you apologizing for? Obviously you have your world pegged right up there ahead of everyone else.

Your hubris is breathtaking.

Why anyone is making apologies to you is beyond me.

Seagrass, I think you and Tricia both missed the point that Annie was trying to make.

I believe Annie was being facetious.

Sharon said it best, "Devastating storms devastate people in many different ways. No matter what you call them, no matter if it is wind, rain, water or snow, no matter where in the country they hit, no matter the livelihood of the region.

A devastating storm shows no mercy."

Some apologies are more sincere than others.

Ann

Let it die, Ann. I refuse to resort to name calling and insults when I disagree, it's too discourteous, and the longer this goes, the worse it's going to get.

There's already far too much contention here, I don't care to add to it further.

Annie