Weather, climate, my cousin and I

Oceasn breaks thru from the bay side on Hattaras Island

Hurricane Irene created more damage in Western Mass and Vermont than it did on the Cape, but that's where I was-- in Wellfleet-- when the storm hit.  Although little rain fell, on Sunday we had sustained winds of 30 miles an hour and gusts up to 70 miles an hour.  But a couple of days before that, I knew Irene had been battering the Outer Banks of North Carolina, where my cousin and her partner lived. Turned out that she's OK, and her house stood, with minor damage.  Hattaras Island, however, was hit hard.

Wellfleet's Mayo Beach --on the bay side!- sea foam in foreground

 This year I've found myself tallying a lifetime of weather.  Probably my list isn't much different from other New Englanders-- flooding, blizzards, heat waves, hurricanes-- but I've experienced blizzards and floods while living alone in the woods, when I had moments of wondering if I'd make it through.  I didn't, however, ever expect to be looking at a tornado barreling up State Street straight toward me.  

I hope never to know a forest fire, a major earthquake or a tsunami.  I hope New England never suffers a drought as lengthy as what Texas is experiencing.  But I have a feeling that I'll have a few more major weather events to add to my tally in the next few years.

Here's quick explanation of the relationship between weather and climate change