Category Archives: Weather

My Date with Tropical Storm Hanna

Like most residents of the Outer Banks, I keep an eye on tropical weather system development. This isn’t only due to to survival, but also because I relish these storms as photographic subjects. Recently, Hanna was no exception. Once again, we were fortunate to avoid a direct hit. My sister in Raleigh had more wind and rain than we did.

As the storm moved inland up into the piedmont region, we saw large seas and swirling clouds. Strong westerlies brought some minor flooding from the Pamlico Sound. By mid afternoon the skies brightened as my wife and I watched a dark band of rain move eastward over the ocean. The swells cleaned up, and remained strong. I went to work shooting beachscapes on Pea Island, accompanied by Denise.

Later that afternoon, the clouds and lighting conditions were setting up for another go. I returned to Pea Island for the end of the day. The ocean and sky were spectacular. After lots of exposures and experimenting with different shots that day, I felt pretty good.

Weather Phenomena

The initial days of August on Hatteras Island, we experienced many short-lived thunder storms, almost daily. In the routine of digital photo editing, more than once I found myself not trusting my surge protector, shutting the computer system down and pulling the plugs.

Early Sunday morning the 10th, I awoke and gazed out on the Pamlico Sound from my bedroom window. There I saw an ominous frontal system approaching. One cloud had a spike hanging from the bottom, and in a matter of minutes there was a slender waterspout spinning down to the water. It was however very brief, as I drove my truck north to follow its progress. As suddenly as it appeared, it vanished.

The storm clouds remained, and I drove around looking for dramatic images. I do this a lot spontaneously. Sometimes it pays off. Most of the time, it doesn’t. I pulled into an area locally known as the “Rodanthe Creek”. This is a place where much of the commercial fishing activity has taken place over the years. With the passage of time this usage has dwindled significantly. For years, I considered “the creek” to be a center of cultural activity. Most of the fish houses, where the daily catches came in, are gone. Now there is only one left, and it is utilized very little. I used to love taking pictures there, and today I made some shots that made me nostalgic. I could almost feel the excitement and activity of days gone by. Today I was glad to see a shrimp boat tied up to the dock.

A short time later the weather cleared, only to have another heavy squall come down from the north, slightly offshore. I headed over ramp 23 to access the beach. There was a dramatic wall of rain moving south, and blowing a gale. With the adverse conditions, I couldn’t get out of my vehicle. I rolled down the window, took a quick shot. As I pressed the shutter a second time, a vehicle unexpectedly passed right in front of my picture. My initial reaction was that this “accidental tourist” ruined my beach scape.

I rolled up the window, and sat in my truck. The wind and rain intensified. Suddenly lightning bolts were striking all around me. Foolishly, I had a false sense of security in my truck. Then the hail stones began pelting the beach. That’s when I decided to head back home. It was just another day at the office.

To see my waterspout shots from 2005, follow this link.

http://outer-banks.com/halminski/waterspouts.cfm