4:30 Update: Hurricane Sandy

Cascades Brook is now running at 4 inches.
We've now gotten a total of 1.1 inches of rain.
A one minute interval has the wind topping out at 27 mph.
The barometer is at 29.06 Hg and still falling.
It is 57.7 degrees and rising.
98% humidity with rain coming in from the east.

2:30 pm Monday update

At 2:30 pm, we've been doing some trenchwork, as the soil has now become so saturated that the water is either standing on top or running across. We have now received 3/4 of an inch of rain.The stream, within the last half hour, has gone from 2.2 inches to 2.4 inches, and the secondary channel is now running.
Over the preceeding ten minutes, we've seen wind ranging from 11 mph to a high of 41 mph.
The humidity is at 98% with rain driving in from the east.
It is 56 degrees F.
The barometer is at 29.15 Hg and falling.

Hurricane inbound!

But in the meantime, it looks like we have a couple of nice days ahead!
At nine am, it is 52 degrees and rising.
The barometer is at 29.44 and steady under somewhat cloudy skies.
The stream is trickling.

On the list of "to do" ahead of the storm: going up to check out our culvert! While the piers stand and having a house that's above running water is always exciting, we'd prefer to not have to rebuild the driveway again this winter if we can avoid it.
If you have a storm drain near you, do the DPW (and us all!) a favor and get the leaves off of it. If we get anything like the rain forecasted, we're going to need a place for it all to go!

5pm update: beyond the eye

It was fairly calm there for some time, and then the wind picked back up. We're seeing gusts of up to 30 mph again now.
The brook has also somewhat subsided; it's down to 13.2, surging to 14.4 inches.
It is 68.4 degrees and steady.
Still 98 percent humidity
28.26 inches of mercury and falling
We've had a total of 3.66 inches of rain here during the storm.

Noon update: gusts of 58 mph!

While we off at church this morning, we had half a tree come down across the driveway. We've also got some birches along the south property bound down, and a sizable one right along the back of the shed. Narrow misses!
The brook is 18 inches surging to 20.4 inches.
While we are very sheltered here between the trees and the hill, yet we are still seeing wind gusts of up to 58 mph (Note: I've had to change that FOUR times while typing this!).
It is 69.4 degrees F and steady.
98 percent humidity and raining steadily.
The pressure is 28.35 inches of mercury and FALLING.
We've had 3.58 inches of rain during the storm.
The Cascades are ROARING!

Morning update: 7 am

The Cascades are running!
The brook is up to 8.4 inches, and the secondary stream channel is open and flowing.
So far, for this storm we' ve gotten 2.09 inches of rain.
The wind has picked up, with a top speed thus far of 15 mph.
It is 71.9 degrees and steady.
The humidity, with rain falling, is 98 percent.
The barometer is 28.67 inches of mercury and dropping.
I'd say Irene is here!

10:30 pm update

Not really raining here at the Lodge right now, and the frogs are singing full blast.
The brook remains at 6 inches.
There is still no wind.
The pressure is at 29.12 and steady.
It is 69.8 degrees and steady.
98 percent humidity and steady
We've had 0.55 inches of rainfall today.

Next post in the morning, unless something big changes during the night.

As of 5:30 pm

The brook has now risen to 6 inches.
There is no wind.
We've had a total of 0.43 inches of rain.
Currently there are 29.15 inches of mercury, and that's holding steady.
It is 71.1 degrees and steady.
We've got 97% humidity.


And, yes, we've made sure that the culvert above us is clear!

Rain just started

The rain from Irene just started here at the Lodge, where our hurricane preparations have included getting the weather reporters (wind gauge, rain gauge) back up online. We'll post (so long as we have service) updates as they're interesting.
Right now it's 76.6 degrees, 78% humidity, lightly raining.
Barometer is at 29.18 and steady (the center is pretty far away yet)
No measurable wind

Nancy

We're getting the edges of what I believe has been downgraded to a tropical depression (still named Nancy). Gusts of up to 30 mph, periodic rain.
It's hovering right around 70 degrees
The barometer's at 29.29 and steady

While here under the cliff the wind is less (we're going up to 4 or 5 mph per gust), it's a lot of wind for where we are. If you're near a storm drain, pull out the leaves, as there's a flood watch in effect and those won't help!

You'd never know this was Worcester

We've got vanloads of Clark University students coming through today. The Outing Club is running their annual hike in the Cascades (my subtitle: "You'd never know you were in Worcester!"). We've thus spent the morning running off maps and baking cookies (oatmeal raisin chocolate chip, a hiker specialty). The third group, each of 15 or more, is just out getting acquainted with the area now.

At 2pm, it is 68 degrees and sunny
We've got about 1 mph of wind, 'though it's been up to 3 this morning.
The barometer is at 29.75 inches and steady
We didn't get enough rain to get the stream back, but we're sure it's coming.

And take it from the Clark students: it's a great day for a hike!

Battening down the hatches

Even without incoming Earl, it's cooler and less humid this morning.
At 10 am, it is 78 degrees
Humidity is about 60%
The barometer (which should be rather dramatic later today) is at 29.12 inches and steady.
The fire danger is LOW.

No water in the stream, but we're hopeful the falls will be back a bit this weekend.

Brisk

Did we have a summer in there? If it's like this all week, it will feel just right for yellow school buses on Wednesday!
At 9 am, it is 61 degrees and rising
80% humidity and steady
29.29 inches and steady
The brook had subsided down to two inches again, but with the rain from Hurricane Danny on Saturday (1.22 inches Saturday, .083 inches Friday), it's back up again, this morning to 3.8 inches.

Sorry for the long gap in posts: we were away for a week, admiring buffalo in Minnesota, and then took a week to re-adjust. We should be back on schedule now!