What the Heck was That?

19 inches of snow in North Jersey during October- that sounds ridiculous.  Watching snow fall around a streetlight through my window before November- come on.  This event . . . how is it even possible to describe?  Not only did it snow in October- which is incredibly rare and unheard of in my generation- it snowed more than a foot from North Jersey to Maine.  More than 30 inches of snow was recorded at locations in Massachusetts and New Hampshire.  A dusting or slushy inch this time of the year would have been enough to ask what the heck is going on out there . . . but over a foot of snow- what do you even say?  It’s as incomprehensible as the difference between 1 billion dollars and 1 trillion dollars- once facts and figures pass what the brain is used to dealing in you just file them into a ‘speechless’ category.

Fishing was more than a bit difficult on the 29^th.  We tried, though, in the morning without much success.  Notice the streaks of blowing sand.  Since the blow was brief and the surf not too damaging, dunes with dune fences actually benefited from this event.

The wind was more north than east which made casting even more difficult since a north wind puts an even greater drag on the line and lure.  When a 3oz T-Hex doesn’t hold water it’s time to go home.  If I can’t be in the water I’d rather be out in the storm taking pictures of flags rather than sitting at home- but I'm different.

Will and I enjoyed a decent surf session in the morning.  The water was chilly and did not have the bath tub effect we were counting on.  The berm was lost and the beach notably flattened but the dunes were untouched.

Precipitation-wise, the snowstorm was notable even for winter.  That this much snow fell during October was highly suspect.

Most of the Southern Provinces of Canada have barren ground, the ground is even bare along the southern shore of the Hudson Bay.  October averaged very warm over all of Canada, and warmth was record breaking in Manitoba during the middle of the month- to the point that new all-time warm October temperatures were established.  Meanwhile, there is 19 inches of snow on the ground in West Milford, and 32 inches in Peru, Massachusetts.  The atmosphere is certainly behaving strangely. 

I looked for some clams yesterday during the day, with the hope of scoring a good clam bite at night.  I didn’t find any clams on the beach so I took a trip to local bait shop.  I brought two dozen clams home and shucked and salted them with high hopes . . . unfortunately all I caught from 8:30pm to 10:00pm was a hake and three skates.  Counter to what I was expecting, the ocean had a very sterile feel to it, and there were no signs of bass.  This is fall though, and we are in it now, so things can change at any time, especially now that the rivers and bays up north are quickly chilling out from the freak snow.  Unfortunately, there may be a spell of junky east winds this week.  Time will tell.