The Outer Banks was hit with a powerful Nor'Easter. Wind gusts of hurricane force pummeled the beach, knocking down trees, signs, power lines, and just making an overall mess of the area. Large amounts of rain flooded roads, while ocean overwash shut down streets. Beach erosion was extreme, and from my estimates will be about as severe as what Hurricane Dennis did.

July 2, 1999

I definitely believe that this season of storms, or lack of, could be considered one of those Asleep at the Wheel seasons. It is unbelievable the amount of bad luck as far as chasing opportunities that have presented us. Very few storms to begin with, and those that did come about were on the same schedule as our jobs. There were several times that during work we would witness some of God's greatest shows. But unfortunately, we had neither the time nor the resources to do anything about it other than view it and stare in utter amazement. One time during a prisoner transport, Army witnessed several tornadoes at one time. But due to safety procedures and lack of a camera at the time, he was unable to stop. As he said, the worst part about it is that even if he did have a camera with him, he would have been unable to stop due to the security risk. It's the kind of job you love to hate! Ha Ha. But seriously, there have been a lack of tornadic and lightning storms. On the bright side of the picture(for those of you who have never appreciated the true inspiration of a storm will find this on the dark side), just a matter of days into the Atlantic Hurricane Season, we had our first named storm. While Arlene was no more than a Tropical Storm, she already showed the forecasters the errors of their ways. Arlene was just a budding low pressure system in the beginning with the forecasters spreading the word that there would be no development. But slowly and surely as she made her way across the Atlantic, she gained strength and churned the ocean. Building to a medium powered Tropical Storm, she neared Bermuda. While the "professional" forecasters plotted her course to the north, the locals had much different to say. If the jet stream and the local fronts had moved through as expected, Arlene would continue on her westward course into the gulfstream, where she would build strength over the warm waters. Then if the conditions remained as expected, they foretold of Arlene hitting the Outer Banks head on. But if the conditions did not remain as expected, Arlene would die out soon after. From all the years of growing up on the farm, and the few years that I've spent on the Outer Banks, I've learned one thing about weather forecasting. TRUST THE LOCALS!!!!! Arlene continued on a west north west course until a low pressure system that was over us stalled. This in turn affected the jet stream and the upper level winds. Arlene soon became nothing more than a rainstorm over the ocean. The Bermuda Islands were spared the brunt of a decently muscled Arlene when she passed slightly northeast of the islands. The Outer Banks were spared a Tropical Storm, and received a Nor'easter. There is nothing dramatic about a Nor'easter. Low soundwater, high winds, and chilly temps. Not much in the way of photography. Anyway, we will see what the next few months hold in store for us.

March 3, 1999

February 1, 1999

Missing Children Alert!

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