From what we can tell Noel was pretty good to Halifax last night. The winds were really bad between 2-4 am, but there doesn’t seem to be any major damage at all.
Some areas of the province lost power, which affected tens of thousands. There was also some localized flooding in those same areas.
The eye of the storm tracked about 75km West of us, so I guess we were lucky.
1:55 am
Okay, it’s bad out there now. I just went out with the dog and the wind nearly blew me over. Seriously, it’s strong.
10:30 pm
It’s calming down again. Rain has pretty much stopped—the wind is still high, but certainly not as high as they said it would be by now.
8:55 pm
Lots of lightning and the rain is picking up again.
8:25 pm
The wind has really picked up, but not that strong.
6:35 pm
Lunenberg, a town on the South Shore, has lost two grids of power. No idea how many people that affects. The storm hasn’t even hit yet—not a good sign.
6:30 pm
Noel is off the coast and has sustained winds of 90km an hour. They said winds could hit 150km later tonight.
6:25 pm
The news just came on and said Noel is no longer a hurricane. However, we are going to have hurricane force winds and rain consistent with what we would see in a hurricane.
What the fuck does that mean? Jesus, I hate stupid people.
6:00 pm
It’s bizarre—we talked to our niece this afternoon and she works in one of the local malls; they are not closing. The mayor is telling people to stay home, but I guess if you want to go out, you can always go shopping.
5:45 pm
The storm started a couple of hours ago and it was pouring really hard. Then the winds picked up, so we thought things were starting early.
Now things have calmed right down. The winds have dropped (relative to what it was, it’s still windy) and the rain is half of what it was.
Monique is making us some supper as we finish up the last of the preparations.
They say it should hit between 7-9 pm now. I’m hoping it just blows on by.
The remnants of Hurricane Noel are heading straight for Nova Scotia. Weather forecasters predict the storm will hit Halifax around 7:00 pm tonight with all its fury.
The problem is nobody seems to know just how furious it will be by the time it gets here. They said it’s not going to be a hurricane anymore—which is a good thing, but they just don’t know.
The mayor and Atlantic Canada Hurricane Weather Tracking Service has warned residents to be prepared. Get extra water, canned food, backup generators and whatever other nonperishable items you can think of.
It’s obvious they expect us to be without power for a little bit at the very least. The Red Cross said to be prepared for 72 hours, but I can’t see that happening. Although during the last Hurricane we had here some people were without power for a week or more.
So far Noel killed 124 people during its trek through the Caribbean.
Monique and I are doing what we can to be ready.
Update: The Weather Channel just said we should be prepared for Hurricane force winds and 100 mm of rain. Oh, and the storm hits during high tide—that’s just great.
I’m home one day from San Francisco’s warmth and sunshine and what happens? We get hammered with a winter storm. Not just any first of the year winter storm, this was a dandy.
Nicole and Michael came out to help shovel the side deck, which helped out a lot. Actually, Nicole did most of the work and seemed to have a good time doing it.Twiggy had a blast. She has a habit of jumping in front of you when shoveling snow getting a face—and mouth—full of snow every time you try to clear the walk.
I hate snow. I hate winter.
Depending on which newspaper you read or the news station you listen to, we could be hit with anything from a tropical storm to a hurricane. Ophelia is heading our way after battering North Carolina.
The storm, according to the Canadian Hurricane Center, has been very hard to track. They are counting on the storm taking an Easterly track, moving over the cold water of the Atlantic Ocean and losing steam as it hits Nova Scotia.
The problem, it seems, is that the storm has shifted its course several times and has threatened to take a more Northerly course. This, for us, would not be a good thing. This would effectively allow the storm to gain intensity, getting it back to hurricane strength.
Monique went to the grocery store yesterday and there was quite a mix of people shopping. Some had there shopping carts filled with everything but a power generator and others were treating the warnings like any other day.
We were caught off-guard once before when Hurricane Juan pounded us a couple of years ago. Nobody wants a repeat of that mess. We are stocked up but it’s hard to tell what the storm will bring.
It’s been raining all day—very intensely at times, but the storm isn’t supposed to hit until the wee hours of tomorrow morning.
Our heat-wave hit yesterday as promised. The highs certainly didn’t disappoint as it went over 110º at times in the afternoon heat and humidity—unfortunately the promised respite didn’t materialize today.
Despite wide predictions of thunderstorms overnight a return to livable temperatures on Sunday, we are still sweltering in the heat and humidity. We went up to Monique’s parents house today to help her father with a printer problem and to hook up a stereo component for him. The kids took the time to go for a swim in their pool and cool off a bit, but their has been no relief for Monique and I.
After we left there, we stopped off at the local park to see a dog show. Actually it was more of an exhibition, all intended for fun, no real competition. Lots of cool dogs, although not a Border Collie in the mix at all—kind of strange considering how smart they are.
The dogs did relay races and agility competitions, darting in and out of obstacles. Some of course, did better than others, but it was a lot of fun watching. Unfortunately, we were in the heat for the hour or so we watched—I was just cooked by the time I got home, but it was worth it.
Everyone is doing there own thing right now, trying to cool down. I have another feature due tomorrow, so I’ve been working this weekend, but the break this afternoon was nice.
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