Just back from visiting my son at the Barton College Parents' Weekend. Had a good visit, but we all were worried the wind would switch west to line up a meaty northeast windswell created by a 4-day northeaster last week. It's not a good thing to be landlocked 3 hours inland when great surf is born. However early morning calls to local allies told us the wind was still onshore and the waves were "humpy, bumpy, and lumpy". So we could relax and enjoy our day. We may get our offshore conditions tomorrow.
But the real reason I felt compelled to post tonight is the astounding speed Hurricane (almost tropical storm) Kyle is passing our coast apparently with Maine in it's crosshairs. Watching these storms for a lifetime has taught me when they move fast like this one---24 miles per hour---they leave virtually no swell on the adjacent coasts. Hurricane Bell did this in 1976 coming up under the hook of Cape Hatteras and then abruptly pinging to the northeast and then almost straight north at about 16 miles per hour. It was a fairly powerful storm with 110 mph winds wrapped around it's eye. It left behind a strong, double overhead swell crashing our sandbars for a mere few hours. Then just as suddenly, no swell at all.
But Kyle at 24 mph and even on our side of Bermuda? At this time it is a low- rent storm with winds a measly 75+ mph. When a Hurricane moves this swiftly as well, it tows its resulting swell like a fast moving boat wake, not spreading out until the storm is long past. We might not see any surf here from Kyle until late Monday or later when it crashes into New England or Maine. I'll be watching this closely and let you know what happens here at the home breaks.
In the meantime, we should have some fun waves here tomorrow when the wind switches. I'll let you know.
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