Sunday Aug 28, 2011 Irene is Over but Bay Flooding Continues

Hurricane Irene made landfall 10 miles north of Atlantic City at 0535 this morning.  This made Irene the first hurricane to directly landfall in New Jersey in 108 years!  The last hurricane to come ashore directly in New Jersey was the 1903 New Jersey Hurricane.  Irene was a minimal Category 1 at landfall with 75mph winds (the lower threshold of a hurricane is 74mph winds).  While worse hurricanes have impacted the state without landfall in the past, Irene’s landfall is very special since landfalls in New Jersey are so rare.  The hurricane was the worst tropical cyclone to affect the state since Hurricane Gloria in 1985.  Hurricane Gloria made landfall on Long Island.

The strongest onshore winds were timed with the high tide since the storm center was still 20 or so miles south.  I was up at the beach this morning from 0630 through 0800 and witnessed the combination of large waves, high tide and storm surge attacking the beach and dunes.  The winds were blowing E at a solid and steady 40-50mph and the waves were 10-15ft.  Around 0730 the winds slackened and the sky brightened as the ’eye’ was passing overhead.  The eye was not distinct but was obvious by a brightening of the clouds and from the slacking wind.  The rain also tapered off.  20 or so minutes later the winds shifted SW which signaled the eye was through.  The storm was over by 0830.

High waves and a storm surge slammed into the dunes at high tide this morning

The sea was angry and powerful.  Winds during this photo were E at 40-50mph.  Waves were at least 10-15ft.  Some sets were breaking a quarter mile out.

The winds turned hard SW as soon as the storm center passed

The beach took a pretty good hit for only a one night storm.  The dunes weren’t scarped, but the sand fences that have been in place since spring 2010 were ripped out.  Property damage on the beach was limited to sand fences and lost stairs.  It will take a week or so to asses how much erosion there was.  The biggest impact here, though, seems to be the bay flooding.  The onshore winds that blew last night piled water up into the back bays and now the bay is flooding with this morning’s high tide at 1100 even though the storm is over.  Rt 35S is closed and all the low lying areas have water.  Bay flooding was very significant in Normandy Beach.

Bay Flooding was significant in low lying areas of Normandy Beach

This was the only wind damage I could find

The ocean was receding fast.  Hopefully we get to surf this afternoon!

This was the most significant storm since the March 13th, 2010 nor’easter.  This will definitely finish up as a notable storm but it was certainly not the worst hurricane to effect us, even though it made a direct landfall.  Wind damage was surprisingly light- we had a stack of light firewood on the side of the house that wasn’t worth taking in and surprisingly none of it was moved even though it was exposed to the wind all night.  I didn’t see any notable wind damage anywhere. 

From looking around on my bike this morning it appears the greatest impact is bay flooding.  Beach erosion ranks second and wind impact was a non-issue.  Inland, freshwater flooding from excessive rains is likely the worst aspect of this storm.  Because Irene’s rainfall came on top of record rains early in the month, this August is sure to be wettest on record and quite possibly the wettest month on record of any month in history in select cities.




 

Saturday Aug 27, 2011 Irene Storm Update 20:30

The beach at dead high tide this evening did not look much different than a standard nor'easter.

I went up to check the beach at high tide.  Some water was making it to the upper beach, but only on the largest waves and without that much force.  The waves were a lot smaller than expected but were rough and sloppy.  The largest waves were only about 4-5ft+ and were not much bigger than the middle of the day, and they didn’t look very threatening.  Even if we get hammered tonight, it won’t be for a long duration since winds will turn hard westerly immediately after the storm center passes, which is expected at or before breakfast time.  So far the storm is indistinguishable from a common nor’easter.

The biggest threat from Irene will likely be freshwater flooding.

Irene is looking more and more like a 1999 Hurricane Floyd.  At sea, Floyd threatened to be a major East Coast storm until it weakened substantially.  What Floyd did not deliver in wind, it delivered in rainfall when it combined with a stationary front sitting over the Appalachians.  Right now, Irene is showing signs of being similar to Floyd.  Irene is loosing its wind intensity and a stationary front is forming over the Appalachians.  What this means is the biggest threat from Irene is likely to be excessive rainfall.  The heaviest rains will likely be found in a swath from west Virginia through southern New York, including North Jersey.

Along the coast, it is very likely tropical storm conditions will occur late tonight through at least early morning.  The possibilities of hurricane conditions are slim and are becoming less as the storm continues weakening.  The winds should be westerly by mid-morning with rapidly drying weather conditions.  By dinner time, along the coast, we will be well settled into the start of what looks to be a long period of dryness over the next 10 days. 
 

As a write this, it’s starting to get gusty outside, but so far it sounds no different than a standard nor’easter.  I expect sustained tropical storm force winds to continue through morning.

Here are some current winds along the coast . . .


Mantoloking, NJ            ENE 39 gust to 46
Cape May, NJ               ENE 41 gust to 49
Ocean City, MD            ESE 21 gust to 28
Virginia Beach, VA       NNW 27 gust to 41

So you are aware, this is not even close to the wind intensity of the 1944 Great Atlantic Hurricane, the worst hurricane in New Jersey in modern times.  Winds in that storm were SUSTAINED at 100mph.

***One thing to be aware of is the possibility of a stray tornado.  The tornadoes that usually occur with landfalling tropical cyclones such as this are usually weaker than cold front tornadoes.  But a tornado is still a tornado.





 

Saturday Aug 27, 2011 Irene Storm Update 15:30

Saturday surf mid-afternoon.  A confused sea but not too bad yet.

I went and checked the beach a little bit ago.  The beach was still there and not too much was going on.  The ocean looked very confused and ‘stupid’, but wave heights weren’t large at all, only around 3-5ft.  The surf will likely come up quick this evening and early tonight once the core of Irene becomes untangled from the Outer Banks.  So far, everything looks ok and rather uninteresting.

Dry air from the west is getting tangled in Irene, but once the storm moves back over water, and because it is large, it expected to maintain Category 1 intensity as it passes by the coast early Sunday morning.  Though the storm will likely be a Category 1, it will be a low-end, so expect sustained tropical storm force winds (39-73mph) to be more likely.  This is not a 1944 Great Atlantic Hurricane- but if you were born after September 1985 this will very possibly be the most intense New Jersey hurricane of your life so far.

Irene is a large storm.  Drying will likely be rapid once winds turn westerly since there is a lot of dry air to the west.  A long spell of dryness is forecast to follow the storm.

Here are some wind gusts in North Carolina right now.  The winds are sustained at tropical storm force over a large area, but none of the winds below are too exceptional as far as tropical cyclones go.

Kitty Hawk, NC             SE 42 gust to 58
Rodanthe, NC              S 39 gust to 64
Buxton, NC                   SSW 43 gust to 66
Ocracoke, NC              SW 45 gust to 55

As long as the power is on I'll do one more update after the high tide at 18:30.





 

Saturday Aug 26, 2011 Irene Pre-Storm Update #2

Saturday morning beach at sunrise

As of 6:30am EDT conditions are calm.  I went up to check the beach.  The same groundswell as yesterday was out there, around 3-3ft+.  Fortunately for the state of the beach, because the storm has been in the swell shadow of Cape Hatteras and is coming up the coast straddling land, we haven’t had a lot of precursor waves that would have started the erosion process early.  Still, without a sandbar from a summer of record calm weather, there’s nothing to dissipate the energy of the waves that are coming tonight.  If you can read the water, you can tell the lack of sandbar by the shore pound, as well as by noticing the high run up.  As of now, the storm is forecast to be over the Delaware coast at 200am Sunday, which would mean the storm may already be past us for the 7:11am new moon high tide.  Even if that situation occurs, sparing us the worst of it at high tide, the beaches are still going to look a lot different tomorrow.  The only properties worth concern are the Surf Club and those along 8th Avenue in Normandy, as well as the Thunderbird since those structures are on the beach with no dune.

Irene has had a well distributed and large wind field around its center for days now, so at the very least we are going to experience moderate to strong tropical storm conditions tonight and tomorrow morning.  With a forecast that shows the storm remaining a hurricane over Connecticut, it is very well possible that we will experience hurricane conditions or at least hurricane force wind gusts here for a time.  Here are some winds that are occurring right now in Virginia and North Carolina closer to the storm . . .

Virginia Beach, VA          ENE 21 gust to 37
Rodanthe, NC                   ESE 48 gust to 78
Buxton, NC                        ESE 52 gust to 82
Ocracoke, NC                   ESE 47 gust to 62
Emerald Isle, NC              N 30 gust to 52
Wilmington, NC                NW 46 gust to 66

You don't get to see a weather forecast like this in New Jersey too often . . .!

*** Post-storm edit.  Winds were not even close to the intesnity forecast here.

Friday Aug 26, 2011 Irene Pre-Storm Update #1

A hurricane warning has been in effect since this morning and it feels, looks, and smells like were definitely going to get some weather from Irene.  Though Irene has been weakening over the past day, it is still a formidable storm with a large wind field.  With a large diameter of tropical storm force winds, many of us in New Jersey are certainly going to experience what a tropical cyclone is- wind and heavy rain.  This is looking like the most potent tropical cyclone in our area since Hurricane Gloria in 1985.  Freshwater flooding inland is a serious concern since the expected inches of rain are coming on top of flooding from record one-day rains only a week or so prior.  After this system, many areas will likely surpass their all-time wettest August by a large margin.

As of 500pm EDT, hurricane warnings are in effect over the entire New Jersey coastline, extending all the way through Cape Cod.  With that large wind field, we will most certainly get some impressive weather with this.  For a new generation of beach dwellers, this will be a lifetime storm and one to remember.  Wundergound has Irene weakening to a Category 1 in North Carolina, but maintaining that intensity on a forecast track with it directly over the coast on 8am Sunday.  Even if the storm weakens more, we’re at the very least going to get sustained moderate-strong tropical storm force winds.  Remember, even a sustained 50mph wind is WINDY.

Here begins the outer cloud line on Friday evening

If you go outside and look up you will see the leading edge of the storm is already here.  Irene is a very large storm geographically so we are already seeing some cirrus and high level clouds filtering in.  Expect the cloud deck to get progressively lower overnight as the storm approaches.  However, tropical weather is often squally, so you may notice an alternating sky condition between light and dark clouds, maybe even with periods of sun in the morning before the brunt of it moves in.

Some fun 3ft waves and nice beach weather

There wasn’t much indication of an approaching storm today which is typical with tropical systems since high pressure usually surrounds these types of storms.  Looking closer, there was different kind of swell running today, a 3ft+ longer period swell that had a much different character than our normal waves.  It was obvious something different was out there.  Had Irene not been in the swell shadow of Cape Hatteras the waves would have certainly been bigger.  I grabbed a nice surf session during mid-day at low tide, between removing projectiles from my yard and Todd’s yard.  The waves were punchy, fast and fun.  After a summer of record flatness it felt great to finally ride something.

Here are a couple links for tracking the storm . . .

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

http://goes.gsfc.nasa.gov/





 

A Look Back at Past Notable New Jersey Hurricanes

1903 New Jersey Hurricane

The last time a hurricane made a direct landfall in New Jersey was the 1903 New Jersey Hurricane.  The storm came ashore somewhere near Atlantic City and heavily damaged piers and beach structures.  The storm was a Category 1.  Sustained hurricane force winds occurred over portions of South Jersey.

1936 Hurricane Thirteen

1936 Hurricane Thirteen threatened to be the worst hurricane in over 400 years of Mid-Atlantic history . . . But turned away just in time.  The large and raging storm passed by the New Jersey Coast as a Category 2.  The bridge between Atlantic City and Brigantine was destroyed, marooning the city island of Brigantine for months.

Disaster Averted.  The very large and powerful 1936 hurricane turned before striking near New Jersey

1944 Great Atlantic Hurricane

The 1944 Great Atlantic Hurricane was one of the largest and most powerful hurricanes ever in Atlantic hurricane history.  The storm tore through the Outer Banks and was remembered as the worst 20th century hurricane 

there. 

Damage in Atlantic City from the 1944 Hurricane

The storm demolished the New Jersey coastline and was the state’s worst 20th century hurricane.  100mph sustained winds were recorded.  A giant storm surge that was described as a tidal wave wreaked havoc from Asbury Park through Cape May, ripping up entire boardwalks and flooding streets.  The Heinz Pier in Atlantic City was ripped in half when a flailing ship crashed through it.  Long Beach Island was over washed in Harvey Cedars and Holgate.

The ocean over washed Long Beach Island

1960 Hurricane Donna

1960 Hurricane Donna was the only hurricane in history to cause hurricane force winds in every East Coast state from Maine to Florida.  That’s Florida, Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Maine.  Incredible.  As such, Donna was one of New Jersey’s worst hurricanes in history as it steamed by, just off the coast as a Category 2.  Immense tidal flooding inundated Raritan Bay, and the Atlantic beaches were washed out.  Large chunks of earth that remain missing from the bluffs in Long Branch are a testament to Donna’s fury.

 

Hurricane Donna was the longest lived major hurricane on record

1976 Hurricane Belle

Hurricane Belle was a formidable storm as it passed the coast as a Category 1.  The hurricane came ashore in Long Island and was quickly downgraded to a tropical storm.  Bay flooding was notable with Belle.  Beaches were eroded.  The highest wind gust in the state was 90mph but average winds were closer to 50-60mph.

 

1985 Hurricane Gloria

Many refer to Gloria as the ‘storm before the calm’.  Hectic evacuations, traffic jams and loss of business, in many ways, caused a greater impact than the storm itself.  With the storm passing at low tide conditions were also less than expected.  The storm was still quite formidable though, and caused beach erosion, giant surf, flooding, as well as property damage.  The storm's greatest impact was felt in eastern Long Island where it came ashore.  Our upcoming event is the most significant tropical cyclone threat since Gloria.





 

The Best Night This Summer

Even though surf temperatures have been more or less at or above 70F since June and surf conditions have been excellent, we just haven’t been able to put a good shark event together this summer.  Seriously, the water temperatures have been Florida-esqu, and very early in the year, but for whatever reason the teeth haven’t been around in good numbers.  One of my theories is that because the weather has been so calm for so long we lost our sandbar (it isn’t missing it’s just piled onto our new gigantic beach), and without dips and cuts and drop offs to hold the smaller fishes like fluke, sea robins etc there is just no reason for the bigger predators be around.  It’s been a dead sea, at least here.  No fish, no waves, no sandbar.  But plenty of nice ‘beach weather’.  That’s ‘get other stuff done that doesn’t involve the beach’ weather for me.

So, in search of a beach with form, we decided to try an area that is known for its form- and found no form.  Same straight as a ruler shapeless beach.  But it looked fishy.  The near full moon would rise in an hour and I had a good feeling.  This was going to be our night.  When you get really in tune with the sea and the wind, the sky color, the vibe, your instincts just know automatically.  It’s something like what humans used to do before computers.  It’s pretty cool.

We had a guest with us, Chris, and this was his first experience of the Jersey Shore.  As we set up camp, we could see the lights of Seaside in the distance.  Will informed Chris that what he was about to experience here would be the ‘real Jersey Shore’.  He knew what Will meant.  Chris is a lucky dude and very cool.  He never fished the ocean before until two days before this.  We went out on the party boat for blues on Thursday, there were no blues, but Chris figured out how to catch squid and ling in about 10 minutes.  Put those in the cooler dude, we could use those for bait for the sharks.  Really?  You better believe it.  Oh and the next day Chris caught the boat record fluke on Will’s boat.  Never fished a day in his life until the party boat.

So we get the baits in the water.  There’s four rods out, from north to south, myself, Doug, Will and Chris.  Thanks to Chris I eagerly threw out a fresh ling head.  The other guys chunked up some bunkers.  I knew I would hook up first with that fresh slimly ling head.  Again, it’s the instincts. 

Not long into it my rod goes DOWN.  Holy . . . I sprint over to it, pause for a second so I don’t do something silly, and  . . . HUMMPH.  Fish on!  It started to swim hard with a powerful shake.  The rod did not cease its U bend.  Shark! Shark on!  Coming south- get your lines out.  The crew quickly got the lines out of the water and as soon as they did I was in front of our camp and heading south.  The fish did its thing and took me back and forth and up and down.  Will got on the ‘backpack’ full of the essentials- camera, dehooker, pliers, line cutters, and measuring tape, and got into the ‘leaderman’ position.  If you time the waves right, they come in right over the hump.  Will got the leader and floated him in.  The receding waves revealed a nice 3 and a half foot black tip, angrily snapping and spinning.  Ah shoot, these smaller ones are scarier, they can whip around so fast.  Fears aside, we hoisted the fish to the dry sand for dehooking and a couple of photos.

Getting it done on a fresh ling head

Awesome!  Baits go back out.  Told you guys that ling would work.  You can use the ling, I’m going to up it and throw a squid.  Guess who caught the next fish.  I know when to boast.  My rod heaved over within minutes.  I grabbed it out of the sand spike and didn’t need even need to set since the weight of the fish had done that for me.  After a few minutes I knew it was a ray.  A fighter though for sure, not just a bottom sucker dead weight.  10 minutes later the fish was in the drop off and 15 minutes later he was on the sand.  Getting it over that drop-off is when the ray realizes its power as a dead weight fighter.  Got the hook out, even with that nasty tail whipping around, thanks to a long dehooker.  The beast was returned and it was back to fishing.

So we mend our rods and settle back in, albeit somewhat discouraged from the ray since one usually means more than one, and that would interrupt the quest for sharks.  Indifferently, the bite slowed down for a bit, so there were no more rays and no more sharks.  We settled onto the sand and discussed the state of affairs under the moon. 

Just as we were about to finish solving all the world’s problems a rod went down.  Doug!  You’re up!  Doug was on the rod pretty fast for sitting on his butt for an hour.  The rod was going down to the floor so he set up on it quick.  The drag immediately peeled off.  Shark! And just as soon no shark.  The rig was gone clear through the running line.  Did you tie that uni-uni Doug?  Geez.  ‘No you did‘ he told me.  Oh.  Sorry.  With a mixed state of elation and defeat Doug rebaited immediately.

Now, this is the strangest thing, but what happened next has happened prior so it’s certainly a thing.  We did not pull our rods during Doug’s bite off, so while I spent the next ten minutes assisting Doug with a new rig our baits remained in the water.  Watch this I told Doug.  You’re going to cast your bait back and out . . . And you’re going to get a hit very soon- wait for it man.  You’ll be the first one to go.  The sharks wait for it.  So Doug’s bait is back in the water.  In the time it to took to put the rig bucket back in its place and to get a sip of water Doug’s rod got SLAMMED.  I told you bro! How the heck did the fish ignore all the other baits- that were no more than 30 feet away for the last 20 minutes?  But, it was a cow nose ray.  Hmmm I guess they wait like the sharks too.  We’ll have to work on that theory.

For the next hour or so the action was quiet.  A couple other sharkers we met earlier in the tackle shop stopped by to exchange information and drop off their remaining bunker, which we much appreciated.  They informed us they had a couple of sharks and some hits.  They said they did best when they stopped using bunker oil on the baits.  Thanks for the extra bait!

We settled back in, and within a few minutes Will’s rod went down hard.  All the way down with sand spike failure.  Will set up and was on.  The drag immediately began peeling off the reel.  Lines in everyone, this is the real deal.  Chris and Doug went to cheer Will on while I went to grab the backpack.  The falling tide had caused a shelf bar which would make the fight more challenging as knee-thigh deep water extended about 40 feet or so out.  So down the beach we went.  Stay ahead of it Will!  We’ll go a mile if you have to.  Just make sure you don’t let him turn on that line!  About 15 minutes passed before I realized I forgot my headlamp at the camp.  I ran back to get it, and when I returned the beast was on the shore.  Holy . . . Alright, Alright, I’ll grab the tail.  Sheet this is a big one Will!  Hey, Chris, you want to try this?  Come on!

Chris got in there and dragged him onto shore like a pro.  In only three times fishing- ever- Chris learned how to bottom fish for ling, caught the boat record fluke, and was now dragging a five foot sandbar shark up to the dry sand.  Alright! Alright! First we get the hook out and then the pictures.  I grabbed the ARC dehooker out of my back pack and went to work.  Some guys mount the shark and lift its snout, and then use small needle nose pliers to get the hook.  I have no problem admitting to you I am cautious and girl-like in these situations so I use the dehooker.  I slid the ARC down the line, did the twist, got the shank, and pop it was out.  Then the camera came out of the back pack for some photos. 

 

Everyone smile for the camera!

It was this big!

We took about 10 or so pictures.  Everyone was pumped but the shark was pissed!  He was not staying still for the camera but it worked in our favor for the first shot above.  Finally the shark calmed down and laid straight so I could mark the sand with the dehooker for measurement.  He taped out a few inches over 5 feet.  A very nice fish!  Time for the release.  I wrapped my hands around the base of the fishes tail and did the hunchback walk back to the water line.  A wave come and I got him floating for the turn and let go and he slinked away fine.  We shone our headlamps on the water to watch the dorsal fin cruise until the fish was out of our light line.  How cool does that look!  They tend to stay on top a bit after the release and you can see the iconic fin in the water.

After high fives and hand shakes the baits were back out.  The action was slow for an hour again but then we had three bite offs in rapid succession around 200am.  You guys have to tie your uni-uni knots better!  We definitely lost a couple nice fish to rig failure.  So it goes.  At that point we were clear out of bait, even with the generous donation earlier, so it was time to pack it in.  Had we more bait we would have finished the night out since the weather was perfect, the moon was full, and the bite was there.   It was cool to leave them biting though.  It’s good showmanship.

THE END

Surf Monsters

We got to battle some monsters tonight, but no sharks unfortunately.  A minor shame since we had a nice shark party going at the camp site.  Relatives, friends, and random beach walkers had come up with some beach chairs to hang out and watch the show.  It was a good time nonetheless.  Hey, instead of going to the bar or the club every night, get some people together and come up to the beach for a night under the stars.  If you’re into meeting people, there’s always someone walking by, and when you tell them you’re up there for shark they usually hang around! 

We had a guest with us, Andre, and it was first his time ever fishing the surf, and in general fishing seriously.  You guys catch sharks right there?  ’But I swim there’ his sister said.  They won’t bother you like that I told them.  When you get them on the beach it’s a different story however.  They’re not to happy about that, but In the water they’ll leave you alone.  I explained to Andre some of the ins and outs of the rig, putting the bait on, etc.  It took him a couple attempts to get off a successful cast, but once he did were ready to go.  4 rods out- Doug, Will, myself, and Andre.

The first stingray hit as soon as it got dark. Fortunately, these were the kind of stingrays that moved, and with our bigger gear we were able to match their power and to prevent them from dead weighting on the bottom, so the battle was pretty fun.  I got the first ray to the beach in good time and the crowd gathered around to see.  The excitement of everyone is infectious!  The ray was released smoothly.

 

Will getting some bend on the 12ft stick from a big stingray

Andre was up next.  He never caught a fish from the beach before, and when his rod started bending down to the ground I yelled ‘Andre you’re up’.  He picked up the rod and set back, a lesson about what to do in the event of a hit explained earlier.  20 minutes and at the next beach north Andre had the fish in the drop off.  ‘Oh no’ I thought, the drop-off is the worst with these things.  Quickly he heard the lesson on how to ride the fish in on a wave.  After about five unsuccessful attempts, I asked him what he thought about cutting the line.  ‘NO I WANT THIS THING’.  Alright!  Then bring in on the wave now please!  With a surge of motivation he finally got the wave thing right and the fish washed all the way up.

The crowd was going wild!  For us been-there done-that types it’s cool to see the excitement that this stuff brings to those who aren’t familiar.  Andre was covered in sweat, out of breath, and pumped.  I got the camera out of the back pack, and immediately Will and Doug got behind the fish for a pose.  Can the person who actually caught the fish get the first picture?!  They liked that one.  Andre stepped in and we got the shots.  For never beaching a fish in his life, a 25 minute battle with a 55 inch butterfly ray, I’d say, was a noteworthy accomplishment.

  

This was Andre’s first time fishing the surf and his first fish ever caught.  He was ecstatic! A 55 inch, tip to tip, butterfly ray.