Island Deliveries

It was a little slower getting off the island today, and it’s beginning to feel like the summer season is upon us. The speed limits dropped yesterday to 35 slowing traffic down a bit through the villages. There was also quite a bit of work being done as crews are still cleaning up after last week’s storm. Just south of the Oregon Inlet bridge and just north of Rodanthe one lane of the highway was restricted as sand was being pushed off the road. There was also a small stretch of the Bonner Bridge where only one lane remains open as they continue work on the bridge. Most of the water has disappeared from the roads less a few puddles around the Pea Island area. Please drive slowly though these areas as this water is salt water and can potentially cause damage to your vehicle or to those vehicles passing beside you. Many don’t realize the detriment they may be causing, and it is a sure fire way to anger some locals and others who are “in the know”. (It’s also not a pleasant experience to be enjoying a drive with your windows down when someone flies past you through a puddle of water.) By the time I returned to the island, it seemed that most of the sand had been cleared from the roads so hopefully traffic will be alleviated for the weekend influx of visitors. There was long line of cars sporting surf racks dotting the road at the north end of Rodanthe, and I noticed tripods set up on the dunes. I imagine the swell must have been really good to see so much traffic on a Thursday morning. Despite the work being done and the speed limits dropping, it seems that traffic is becoming more dense in general easing us us into the full swing of summer!

It’s shaping up to be a beautiful day already after enduring two classic Hatteras days of blustering winds and a stint of sound flooding. Winds are calm and the temperature hit 60 already and is expected to climb into the upper 60s this afternoon. Winds are expected to switch west and pick up a little bit as the day progresses. Natural Art Surf Shop’s surf report (252-995-4646) states that waves at the lighthouse are well overhead on the outer bar with a tough paddle past a turbulent inside. I checked Frisco at 8 am, and waves at the Frisco Pier are about shoulder high and also breaking on the outer bar. Definite size, but could use a little cleaning up. High tide is at 4:35 pm.

Although the winds are still fairly strong today, the worst seems to have passed off shore. With gusts reaching upwards of 50 mph yesterday, Hatteras Island experienced a late-in-the-season, but not so surprising low pressure system yesterday afternoon. At its peak around 2:30 on Tuesday, waters had submerged the low lying areas of Hatteras Island in sound water. We frantically waded in calf to knee deep waters underneath our house to get as much off the ground in our garage in possible and relocated the cars to slightly higher ground. Almost as quickly as it came, the waters receded, and by evening most of the water had fallen back into the the sound. Winds have died out quite a bit today, gusting north up to 23 mph. Tomorrow looks even nicer as the temperature should climb back into the upper 60s, and the wind should switch NW blowing in the teens. That could be good news for surfers on the south side of the island. It looks like Buxton, Frisco, and Hatteras might be a good place to find some decent waves tomorrow!
Check out the wind and wave forecast here.

Cape Hatteras High & Elementary Schools let out around 11:30 this morning trying to beat possible sound flooding as a result of strong NW winds today. Winds are gusting between 30 & 40 mph, and they are expected to reach speeds of 50 mph later this afternoon. As of the time of this post, 2:00 pm, sounds waters are starting to come up over HWY 12 in Frisco. I’m not sure about the other villages, but I would imagine parts of Hatteras, Buxton, Avon, and the Rodanthe area are experiencing similar flooding. The winds are expected to persist throughout tomorrow and clearing up for a sunny day by Wednesday.

More info on the weather here.

Update as of 2:15: Since I wrote the post 15 minutes ago, water has fully covered the road in parts of Frisco. As of now, the water depth on the road is only a couple of inches, and high tide is at 2:35 pm.

You couldn’t ask for much better of a beach day than the gift beach goers were given today. The temperature hovered right around 70-72 degrees with a slight NW breeze for most of the early afternoon. The 10-15 mph NNW winds created the perfect offshore push creating fun, somewhat glassy, waist high waves for surfers south of ramp 55 in Hatteras Village for the early afternoon. Wetsuits are mostly retired as the water temp climbs into the upper 60s. Clouds seem to have rolled in bringing the temperature down slightly and the winds have switched to the east most likely blowing out what waves we had as of the time of this post about 4:30. The beaches were somewhat crowded, but I must wonder a little bit how much of this is based on how many people are here vs. how much of the beach remains open for use.