- Updates from the Islands -

- - St.Kitts - -

- Fiona a nonevent

By RPetrillo MPuceta <jacumbaatsea at hotmail.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2010 14:35:18 -0700

Before I even finished typing the last update, the storm pretty much petered out. We got about 5 minutes of heavy rain and that was it. Unfortunately, things are so saturated now that even that caused a little flooding. Hope we have some time to dry out before Gaston comes anywhere near here. Renee

- Fiona Here

By R Petrillo M Puceta <mikenrenee at live.com>
Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2010 16:40:06 +0000

So it took a while, but Fiona has just made landfall (12:30pm). Too early to say what'll happen, but I never know if I'll have electricity later so figured I'd at least announce Fiona's arrival. Rain is coming across the water and the winds are up slightly.

BTW, a sailboat (Unicorn) sank in Major's Bay during Hurricane Earl. Please note that this is not the same brig Unicorn out of St. Lucia. We don't know the whole story yet, but it appears that one person is in the hospital. A small (39 meter) cargo ship hit a reef near S Friar's Bay, sending its 8 crew to shore and up the hills (3 of them are in the hospital). The seas are not the place to be in a hurricane, that's for sure. Stay safe! Renee (www.Islandbabble.blogspot.com)

- Last of Earl

By R Petrillo M Puceta <mikenrenee at live.com>
Date: Tue, 31 Aug 2010 00:05:22 +0000

Well, we got double whammied by Hurricane Earl and the Caribbean-Sea side of the island really got battered. We've got videos and lots of pictures (go to all 3 post entries) of it all at www.islandbabble.blogspot.com. Not sure of what the winds were here, but overall we had minimal damage. We could use a break from Fiona and then next one, and the next one....

- Think it's done with St. Kitts

By RPetrillo MPuceta <jacumbaatsea at hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2010 06:42:31 -0700

The worst of the winds were definitely from 8 to 9:30am. They seem to have quieted down quite a bit now and the rain is much lighter (and falling straight down rather than sideways). There really wasn't a lot of damage as of 7 this morning, but we'll have to take another look. Some things looked a bit precarious when the winds were coming up. Will update the blog throughout the morning with whatever we find out. Good luck to the rest of you - I know, for us, we got pretty lucky. Renee (www.IslandBabble.blogspot.com)

- Just Beginning

By RPetrillo MPuceta <jacumbaatsea at hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2010 02:33:09 -0700

It's been raining hard since 8pm, with winds starting to kick in around 3:30am/4am. At 5:30am it's still pitch black outside with increasing lightning and thunder. Radar shows Antigua right in the center of the worst of it. We're hoping that part will skim north of us. We're pretty tucked in here, so aren't getting the full brunt of what's hitting the island, but there's no damage in our complex (in Frigate Bay). We'll update more later once we know what's happening (no doubt lots of flooding at this point), assuming the power and internet stay up. (www.IslandBabble.blogspot.com)

- RE: update

By "ThE ReAlEsT " <biggstar4u at hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2010 06:07:36 +0000

Just some wind and rain, nothing much as me now, maybe later!

- Starting?

By R Petrillo M Puceta <mikenrenee at live.com>
Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2010 23:21:52 +0000

Well every hour on the hour since 5pm we've had a little rain. That's it. We had a pretty, pink/orange sunset (see attached) and now we're seeing lightning around with some associated grumbling. Surf on the ocean-side beaches started picking up around 6pm, but most bays were still pretty calm. With a slight northerly direction now, we have some hope this storm will keep us in the lower quandrant and give us nothing but a nice, much needed breeze. (www.IslandBabble.blogspot.com). One can hope.

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- No Action Yet

By RPetrillo MPuceta <jacumbaatsea at hotmail.com>
Date: Sun, 29 Aug 2010 12:18:54 -0700

So it's 3:15pm in the islands. It's been partly cloudy all day and the breeze has picked up on the northeast side of the island. The southwest side St. Kitts is so calm, it's stifling. Interestingly, the leaves have all turned upside down on the trees on our Southeast Peninsula and not anywhere else, so I'd say we know where the rain is going to hit first. Our ocean-side beaches don't look any worse than they do during the Christmas winds (less so even), but we figure that'll be changing as Earl gets closer. Friends from Dominica said that the winds just picked up there, so I'd say we're due to get some weather soon. Let's hope the consistently low wind predictions (just over 50% for 34mph) stay true and that the rain doesn't linger. We had flooding with 4" of rain over a 4 day-period a few weeks ago. We don't need that same amount in 1 day. Particularly with more storms right behind this one. Time to tighten down the hatches! Be safe everyone! (www.IslandBabble.blogspot.com)

- BeCalmed

By RPetrillo MPuceta <jacumbaatsea at hotmail.com>
Date: Sun, 15 Aug 2010 03:10:44 -0700

Well, earlier in the week, we flew back from a stormy Puerto Rico only to see the attached water spouts forming all over the southeast side of the island. Saturday we had a few rumblers roll through, but the ocean and sea have been eerily calm. There is no wind whatsoever so dusk means running for cover from mosquitoes. If you're visiting, make sure you have some bug spray! Renee (www.islandbabble.blogspot.com)

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- Mother nature

By "ThE ReAlEsT " <biggstar4u at hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 14 Aug 2010 20:12:21 +0000

After about a hour and a half of thunder, lightning and rain, here comes 
sunshine...like it never happened
Sent from my BlackBerry® device from Digicel

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- Thunder and rain

By "ThE ReAlEsT " <biggstar4u at hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 14 Aug 2010 19:17:03 +0000

What a afternoon much rain and thunder......the worst I've seen since my one 
year on this island!
Sent from my BlackBerry® device from Digicel

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- Great morning

By "ThE ReAlEsT " <biggstar4u at hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 14 Aug 2010 10:23:19 +0000

We Looks to be in for a next great hot day today, no wind, lots of sunshine, 
not much clouds in the sky! 
Sent from my BlackBerry® device from Digicel

- Ick

By RPetrillo MPuceta <jacumbaatsea at hotmail.com>
Date: Thu, 5 Aug 2010 04:37:09 -0700

The good news is that Colin turned out to be a dud (at least in our neck of the woods). We didn't even get any rain from the system. The bad news is that it is STICKY. S-T-I-C-K-Y. There's humid and then there's outright sticky. That's what it is here. This is the kind of weather where you take a shower, towel off, get dressed and need another shower. This is also when you live for the pool, ocean, and Caribbean Sea. Luckily, we have all 3 of those things! Renee (www.islandbabble.blogspot.com)

- Great evening

By "OmAr GuMbS " <biggstar4u at hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 3 Aug 2010 23:02:15 +0000

Great evening wit some calm cool breeze, looks like some rain later on tonight 
for us thou.

I've posted a image below of what its looks like here at the moment.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device from LIME.

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- Sun & Rain

By R Petrillo M Puceta <mikenrenee at live.com>
Date: Tue, 3 Aug 2010 10:32:32 +0000

We've actually had some pretty nice days the past few days. The weekend was perfect. The early morning hours have seen some serious down-pours, however, with this morning's including lightning and thunder. As long as it peter's off for the final holiday day of Culturama, no worries! Well, except for TS Colin. Maybe if we all go to the northeast side of the island and blow as hard as we can...Renee (www.IslandBabble.blogspot.com)

- Ju-vert morning jam

By "OmAr GuMbS " <biggstar4u at hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 2 Aug 2010 13:51:05 +0000

All is sweet on st kitts and nevis this morning, bright sunny morning wit lots 
to enjoy.....I've posted some pics

 
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device from LIME.

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- Fw: Great night

By "OmAr GuMbS " <biggstar4u at hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 2 Aug 2010 00:29:40 +0000

------Original Message------
Subject: Great night
Sent: Aug 1, 2010 8:25 PM

Nothing much going on at the moment, just little breezy, seem like it gonna be 
a great night here in st kitts.

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device from LIME.

- Sun!

By R Petrillo M Puceta <mikenrenee at live.com>
Date: Mon, 26 Jul 2010 09:31:40 +0000

Just reporting that there's nothing to report! We've had a couple of nice days, which has been quite the relief for several communities as they try to dry out from the deluge of last week (http://www.sknvibes.com/news/NewsDetails.cfm/14758). There are quite a few developments going up on island, which means cleared areas, which means mud slides (Haiti anyone?). The rain was a good wakeup call to the electricity dept (who had to get busy when lots of us lost power for over 20 hours) and to residents who are still sweeping mud and water from their homes. Hope everyone's doing whatever they need to so they're ready for something more powerful. Renee (www.islandbabble.blogspot.com)

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- Waterlogged

By RPetrillo MPuceta <jacumbaatsea at hotmail.com>
Date: Tue, 20 Jul 2010 17:18:39 -0700

Is anyone else as tired of this weather system than we are on St. Kitts? We had 2 days of constant grumbling, day and night, and last night it reached its crescendo with constant lightning and deafening thunder. I attached a picture of how bright it was out there at midnight. Power on 1/2 the island (including ours) went out at 11pm and didn't come back on until 20 hours later at 7:30pm. Today did have a few hours of sun, but by 3 it was clouding up again and was raining again not long after. As a matter of fact as soon as the power came back on, there was a burst of lightning and immediate thunder response. Noooooo - no more!

Here's a link showing parts of the capital under some mud: http://www.zizonline.com/news/?F114900F-2219-22DB-ABAB6E71F2F8C209
Stay dry! Renee (www.islandbabble.blogspot.com)

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- Same ol'

By RPetrillo MPuceta <jacumbaatsea at hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 19 Jul 2010 05:03:41 -0700

Well, Saturday we had rumbling clouds roll through with some rain, but mostly just overcast. Sunday the electricity was gone, but it rained and rained. We've finally seen the sun this morning, but it looks short lived. I actually took a picture of the sun as it might be awhile before we see it again. Of course, there's also a picture of what's to come...Looking very closely at the latest thing to come off of Africa. So far it's stayed pretty tight, but we'll root for wind shear and dust. Renee (www.islandbabble.blogspot.com)

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- Grumble

By RPetrillo MPuceta <jacumbaatsea at hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 17 Jul 2010 03:15:31 -0700

It's been pretty tropical lately. Most days have included some rain showers mixed with sun and the occasional storm cell with lightning/thunder. There are definitely grumblings around us right now, but there hasn't been any rain yet. Definitely dreary, but it's always nice to have cooler temps so no complaints. I wouldn't mind putting in a request for some tomorrow for a beach day though. Renee (www.islandbabble.bllogspot.com)

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- Squally

By R Petrillo M Puceta <mikenrenee at live.com>
Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2010 09:39:07 +0000

Well, it's 5:30am and I'm trying to figure out if I want to have a wet run. We thought we'd get rain all weekend, but all that happened was that the humidity rose making for some very sweaty hiking. It has been raining since Monday night at midnight, however, when thunderstorms rolled through and squalls dumped heavy rains. Yesterday was cloudy with the occasional storm cell passing through, leading into cloud-to-cloud lightning (no thunder) by night time. Today looks like more of the same, although I'm not seeing a thing on radar, so maybe it'll dry out later. At least the humidity came down a bit, thanks to the rather cool winds. Out I go...Renee (www.islandbabble.blogspot.com)

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- Where'd it go?

By RPetrillo MPuceta <jacumbaatsea at hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 10 Jul 2010 06:40:34 -0700

Happy Saturday,

So last evening we saw this huge blog coming at us on the radar, saw black clouds on the horizon and thought we were going to be walloped. It rained for about 10 minutes and that was it. Looked this morning and the storm seemed to have bounced off the Leewards and headed northeast. There's definitely still some moisture out there as we've got sun through clouds right now, but it's hard to predict what's to come. Gonna put our rain gear on and go hashing! If you've got an HHH group on your island, you absolutely must try it. It's a great way to see an island (even if you're from there) and meet people from everywhere. Google it and see if there's a chapter in your area and then put on your hiking shoes - rain or shine! Renee (www.islandbabble.blogspot.com)

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- That was Quick

By RPetrillo MPuceta <jacumbaatsea at hotmail.com>
Date: Mon, 5 Jul 2010 12:14:42 -0700

Well, we had a much needed few days of sun. The humidity was down and it was really lovely. The winds started picking up yesterday (Sunday) and the clouds started moving in this morning. It is now (3pm) pouring with some thunder. Gonna be a bit wet the rest of the evening I think. Renee (www.islandbabble.blogspot.com)

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- Morning Madness

By RPetrillo MPuceta <jacumbaatsea at hotmail.com>
Date: Sun, 27 Jun 2010 05:43:15 -0700

So at about 3am this morning we got hit with quite a deluge of rain, with thunder and lightening to keep things lively. I don't think it's rained that had the entire 1 1/2 years we've been here. Last year, TS Ana passed right over us and brought us winds and rain, but it didn't rain half as hard as what we got early this morning. Plus I had just been commenting to a friend that the islands south of Puerto Rico just didn't seem to get that much lightening. Well, that's certainly changed. At one point, we had a bright flash of lightening with a God-like crack of thunder that sent the cats scurrying before the last of the glow from the strike faded. Last year at this time, we were living on our catamaran. All I could think of was that 60' aluminum mast reaching for the electrified sky, realized that all of that was someone else's problem now, and went back to sleep.

Renee Petrillo
www.islandbabble.blogspot.com

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- Thunder

By RPetrillo MPuceta <jacumbaatsea at hotmail.com>
Date: Sat, 26 Jun 2010 11:30:16 -0700

While sitting here enjoying a rare sunny day (rare in the last couple of weeks anyway), we heard grumbling behind us and saw a few rolling white clouds (attached). They don't look like they would contain anything really and there isn't anything obvious on the radar other than Invest 94L to our east, but they're putting out impressive growling noises none-the-less. The humidity is up again and we've got no breeze so if a downpour helps, we'll consider it a good thing.

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- St. Kitts correspondent

By RPetrillo MPuceta <jacumbaatsea at hotmail.com>
Date: Fri, 25 Jun 2010 06:48:15 -0700

Hi Gert,

Don't know if this is still an active email to submit entries to your site, but I'll know as soon as I hit the send button. I wrote for you a bit last year for St. Kitts as we were anchored off the island for the 2009 hurricane season. We have since sold the boat, but are now landlubbers on St. Kitts. We're dealing with a lot of power outages these days and I don't know how the internet will hold up should a real storm hit us, but I'd be happy to give updates again, if you'd like. Here could be the first entry of the season:

After an incredibly warm and humid winter and an even more humid summer, the temperatures have come pleasantly down the past couple of days. Of course, with that, we've had a lot of cloudy conditions (and much needed rain). When I saw yet another dreary day this morning, I took a look at the radar and was shocked to see a big red blob to the east of the island. My next move was to check out the National Hurricane Center, but apparently they hadn't noticed it yet. As of 8:30am though, there was a tidy yellow circle around the area. A later check of this blob on StormCarib maps show the mass growing ever more and some of its tendrils reaching east to keep us under cloud cover. Oddly, looking to the east, we've got sunny skies. Looking to the northwest, dark clouds. I'm guessing we're going to get wet soon. Let's just hope this storm heads north and leaves us alone!

Renee Petrillo
www.islandbabble.blogspot.com

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