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- Looking South from Turner Bay
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- From: Elaine Estern <stjohncoconut at earthlink.net>
- Date: Wed, 3 Sep 2008 19:11:49 -0400
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This is the entrance to the barge port at Enighed pond. You can see
the buoy in the distance.
Sent from my iPhone
eee
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- Looking West to St Thomas from Frank Bay
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- From: Elaine Estern <stjohncoconut at earthlink.net>
- Date: Wed, 3 Sep 2008 18:45:51 -0400
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Sent from my iPhone
eee
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- Looking North from Frank Bay
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- From: Elaine Estern <stjohncoconut at earthlink.net>
- Date: Wed, 3 Sep 2008 18:41:48 -0400
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This is 6:30 PM on 9-3-08, with the tail of Hanna lashing the shore
since noon.
Sent from my iPhone
eee
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- Much rain but not too much wind.
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- From: "crabby" <crabbys at earthlink.net>
- Date: Fri, 15 Aug 2008 10:36:33 -0400
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We had some interesting moments last night with
thunder, lightning and quite a bit of rain, but relatively little wind.
Things really picked up just after 11 pm with wind-driven rain. All in
all, our rain gauge shows just under 4 inches since the storm began late
yesterday. Another reading, also from Coral Bay, came in at 4.7 inches as
of 6:40 this morning. And there was more rain after that. Totals,
based on National Weather Service radar out of San Juan, Puerto Rico show
some areas receiving 6, 7, and 8 inches of rain so far (near St.
Thomas/St. John/St. Croix), and I believe that.
While there was some wind with this system, the big
issue seems to be the rain. There are some very small rock slides along
the road, near guts, and we had a banana tree come down, but nothing serious
that we are aware of.
The heart of the storm has passed,
but lingering showers and squalls are still forecast into this afternoon,
and a flash flood watch has been issued throughout the local
islands. Rain is forecast through the weekend.
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- "We're Here!"
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- From: "crabby" <crabbys at earthlink.net>
- Date: Thu, 14 Aug 2008 21:45:53 -0400
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At 9:09 pm, the thunder kicked in -- joining the
lightning that we've been seeing since nightfall to both our east and
south. It sounds like fireworks -- a distant concussion. Not
constantly; just an occasional pop. So, our unwelcome guest has apparently
arrived.
This may be a long night. It feels hot and
humid in here -- probably since things were so hot, and the air so still earlier
today. It is 79 outside now, but its around 82 inside; we do have some of
the shutters shut -- perhaps not necessary given that no one seems to be
mentioning wind, but you never know. And we haven't seen all that much
rain yet.
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- Odd but true.
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- From: "crabby" <crabbys at earthlink.net>
- Date: Thu, 14 Aug 2008 17:24:00 -0400
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Invest 92 is still a non-depression, and that is good news. We've been
getting ominous looking showers -- a variety of looks (hope the pictures
come through) -- including smoky, foggy, hazy bands of rain. But no air!!
How strange. It is so hot and still. Boats in the harbor are every which
way, and sometimes pointing northerly -- different from our normal easterly
facing vessels. So, as the center of the storm nears, we will see what else
comes.
I really appreciate the folks along the storm's path providing updates and
pictures, so I wanted to return the favor.
Attachment:
S5001635.JPG
Description: JPEG image
Attachment:
S5001638.JPG
Description: JPEG image
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- Watching and preparing.
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- From: "crabby" <crabbys at earthlink.net>
- Date: Thu, 14 Aug 2008 09:57:51 -0400
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It looks like smoke rings coming off the African
coast! Three systems all lined up.
The center of the first "ring" (Invest 92)
is forecast to pass very close to us (St. John, USVI/northern
Leewards/northern Lesser Antilles) sometime tonight or early tomorrow morning --
depending on how fast it moves. But the forecast has been very uncertain.
Right now, Coral Bay is flat as a pancake, there is no wind and it is warm and
humid. We have been watching this storm for the past four or five days
but, aside from people in our ham radio club who participate in the local
weather net, or folks involved in some level of local preparedness, not too much
has been said about it. Could be because the track and movement of this
storm has been slow and models have changed so much over the past few
days. Also, this storm hanging around for so long without reaching
strength to become named means we are still on the "six hour update" schedule
(vs. every three from the National Hurricane Center). Less
info may mean "less urgency" to some people.
If the storm does arrive with even 40 MPH sustained
winds near the center, "Whoops, there goes the glass table top on the
deck!" So those types of things are coming in or getting secured
prior to the storm. (There's a string of storms possible over the next few
weeks, so we'll have to do it sooner of later.) We are also throwing a
second anchor onto our small boat (it is on a mooring and has an anchor
already assisting it). We remember TS Chris (in 2004)? when the scorpion
tail of that quick developing storm broke our mooring chain (luckily it
wrapped on an unoccupied sand hook and kept the dinghies from being pounded on
shore), and left several other boats up on shore on some of the other
islands. Things were fine during the main part of that storm, but
some nasty wind gusts at the end shook a lot of things
free. I'd rather put a few things away (and take down large
profile screens) than try to rebuild or repair something here -- where
specialty supplies are still hard to come by!! Be safe!
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- Much needed rain arrives
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- From: "crabby" <crabbys at earthlink.net>
- Date: Sat, 2 Aug 2008 19:29:42 -0400
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An inch and a half of rain fell here on the
hillside last night above Coral Bay (less towards town, but some just about
everywhere) -- much needed since things have been very dry since
June. The rain was accompanied by much thunder and lightning as a line of
storms passed through the area.
We recently began filling a large bucket with water
and leaving it outside of the animal fence for the family of donkey (including
two very young ones) in our neighborhood. They, and many of the other animals,
have been feeling the impact of very little rain. Last night's soaking
isn't nearly enough to break the drought, but it certainly will
help. There is a possibility of isolated showers over the next
few days, so we will keep our fingers crossed.
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- A Re-Bertha of sorts?
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- From: "crabby" <crabbys at earthlink.net>
- Date: Sat, 5 Jul 2008 20:22:14 -0400
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The possibility of a storm coming close this early
in the season is a bit of a surprise (and the news arrives as some
nurse hangovers from the carnival celebration here on St.John). Since the
other early-season storm that hit here over ten years ago was also named
"Bertha", guess we'll have to all this one re-Bertha.
Anyway, forecasts less than a day ago had Bertha
flying way off to the north and a zillion miles from land. Today, boaters
and landlubbers alike are keeping an eye on the
forecast. Time to figure out where the storm prep
supplies all are. To make things more interesting, the gas station here in
Coral Bay ran out of gas -- not due to a rush from pre-storm fill-ups; they just
ran out. Not a good thing for generators, etc. if the storm does soon
come.
Otherwise, frogs are singing this evening, there is
a pleasant breeze and just a bit of humidity. Summer in the tropics.
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- Gusty Wind and a few driven rain drops
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- From: "crabby" <crabbys at earthlink.net>
- Date: Fri, 20 Jun 2008 13:02:36 -0400
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Winds picked up dramatically just before 12:30 pm
AST -- gusts up to 35 MPH, actually whistling from time to time; small pieces of
leaves were carried in the earliest part of the winds. Lighter
items did blow around, but things are a bit quieter right now. Not much
rain, and the sun has peaked out in between the periods of higher wind
gusts. Looking eastward at Coral Bay and beyond -- white caps, choppy seas
and a few rolling swells. So far the screens are holding here on the
hillside; if more wind comes they could end up in the neighbor's lot.
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