Staying the Course -- August 3, 2020

[Superbob]

As I write this, Tropical Storm Isaias is about 2 or 3 hours from making landfall either here in Myrtle Beach or maybe 20 miles north near the border with North Carolina. By the time that happens, its wind intensity could bump up 4 mph to make it officially Hurricane Isaias. There is not much difference between winds of 70 mph and winds of 74 mph, but it is more impressive if you are a weather reporter to say you covered a hurricane, and better for bragging too if you are an old coot like me just trying to get through another tropical cyclone.

I've covered the preparation stuff ad nauseam, and we did most of that. Now if I can just not eat all the snacks before this storm has moved through. Actually, as of now, it is a fast mover -- heaviest/hardest rains/winds are expected to come between 9 p.m. and 3 a.m., after which it will proceed up to the other Carolina, then all the way up to New England. Hate that it will be raging its hardest after dark here. We are in a tornado watch right now. That is the biggest fear, that it will spin up twisters in the dead of night.

If we have power in the morning, I will post a follow-up.

Ellie dawg and I took a nice prestorm walk this morning. It was calm and much more pleasant than it's been in some time.

Staying the course, come winds or high water.

Cheers,
Superbob

 

[Superbob]

Hurricanes are never perfectly predictable. Maybe that was the mischievous thinking back when we named them all after women, but now we live in more enlightened times. Anyway, last night this rather disorganized system bearing a Spanish name meaning "God is my salvation" was showing a max wind speed of 70 mph. That stayed steady most of the day. As it got very close to the South Carolina coast, forecasters though it might have a chance of increasing to 75 mph and thus offically being a hurricane. But then with the next update, it was at 85 mph! And with further indications that speeds up above, a thousand feet or so, were as high as 120 mph!

So it brought some scary gusts and sideways rain to us, but the major effect was those winds out just off the coast adding to the storm surge, which overran some beach roads and resort parking lots. However, the storm never made landfall here, instead going north and hitting Ocean Isle, N.C., a nice peaceful place we go to sometimes when we want a quiet family vacation nor far from home. And then Isaias began a new form of rampage by spinning up tornadoes today (close to 100 at last count) in NC and Maryland. Now it's focusing on New Jersey, New York, and New England. Quite a persistent and deceptively powerful storm. Its one likeable feature was that it didn't stay in one place for a long time -- it moved along and then out, rather than becoming static as some have and dumping tons of water while toppling trees.

So we stayed our course. Don't detect any damage so far, and Ellie dawg and I didn't come across much this sunny morning on our neighborhood walk. The first of August is rather early to be dealing with a hurricane around here, so there may well be more to come. September and October have brought major 'canes in the past. So life is just one big stress test around here.

Back to steamy weather now. The dawg and I are looking forward to crisp, cool autumn weather.

 

[Seaton]

Glad not too much disruption this time, Superbob. And great that Ellie dawg got her morning walk without too much trouble. May better weather prevail. 🕊

 

[Superbob]

Alas, I am experiencing the CovidCane Gain: Plus-5 pounds amid all the coronavirus-induced and hurricane-exacerbated stress. Too much in-home stocking of goodies -- cookies, chips, crackers, cakes et al (Latin for ate all) Weather gurus now projecting double the average number of major hurricanes before end of 'cane season in November. ('cane did somebody say cane -- as in candy canes?)...It is 2020, can we expect any less?

I was proud of my 30 pound loss since last fall, so instead of high calorie items I need to stock celery and carrots in my next hunker-down supply. Yuck -- it all comes back to celery.

 

[Superman]

We are a bit too cool at night up here already. But the mid to low 70’s with low humidity is great during the day. Glad to see you posting and that you weathered the storm okay.

 

[Superbob]

Happy to report that have shed 3 of those 5 CovidCane pounds merely by abstaining from junk food for 48 hours. Now...to continue making salmon cakes my only kind of "cake" delicacy.

 

[Bryan B]

What's the old real estate saying...location, location, location? I'm in central NC and the center of Isaias passed about 60mi to my east early Tuesday morning and I slept through the entire thing. Looking at the weather stats showed that the top sustained wind in my area was 15mph, the top gust was 26mph and we got 2.65" of rain. Folks along the I-95 corridor seemed to get the worst of it with heavier rains and tornadoes.

 

[dornole]

I’ve been staying the course real well here. Learning to avoid and manage stress without food.

 

[skeptic49]

Three damaged roof shingles here at the beach house. We had high winds but not much rain. Superbob, I am also battling with weight gain. That fight never ends, does it?

 

[Superbob]

Three damaged roof shingles here at the beach house. We had high winds but not much rain. Superbob, I am also battling with weight gain. That fight never ends, does it?

Indeed, it doesn't. Jim. I got off track when we ordered a much bigger birthday cake for granddaughter's birthday than just 3 of us needed, and I ate way too much over 3 or 4 days. Proud, though, that I have taken stock and begun turning things around. Dinner last night was a veggie pita from a great little Mediterranean bistro nearby: grilled onions, peppers, tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms, olives, topped with feta on a grilled pita. Scrumptious! Snacks are fruit instead of chips -- for example, apple slices with just a thin coating of peanut butter.

I need to keep this trend going.

The hurricane forecasters are now predicting 2020 will experience double the average number, so all we Atlantic coastal dwellers will have to keep a weather eye out and not stress-eat!