Hurricane Sandy, the historic storm that dealt a knockout blow to New York city and the New Jersey coast early this week spared the Vineyard for the most part. But while the center of the storm stayed hundreds of miles away, the Island experienced near-hurricane conditions throughout the day on Monday, including serious flooding and coastal erosion, forcing school closures, transportation shuts downs and a day indoors for most Islanders, often without power.
Hurricane Sandy is being characterized as the worst storm in recorded weather history to hit the Northeast, worse than the 1938 hurricane.
And while the Vineyard was at the outer edge of the huge, historic storm and escaped the most severe conditions, weather data provided by the National Weather Service shows that wind speed, storm surge and barometric pressure were near hurricane strength, even on the Island.
Though the Island was spared the brunt of Hurricane Sandy, it brought with it high winds and powerful surf and left in its wake severe erosion, especially on south-facing shorelines. The ocean washed over Norton Point Beach at Katama in Edgartown, turning the eastern end of the beach into a sandbar covered with water at high tide. On Lucy Vincent Beach in Chilmark, waves carved a U-shaped chunk out of the top of the cliff, and left the beach strewn with rocks, sea foam and seaweed.
While the Island was spared the brunt of Hurricane Sandy, reports early Tuesday confirmed severe erosion, especially on south-facing shorelines. The ocean washed over Norton Point Beach at Katama in Edgartown, turning the eastern end of the beach into a sandbar covered with water at high tide, said Chris Kennedy, superintendent for The Trustees of Reservations.
High winds and waves associated with Hurricane Sandy rolled into town Monday, toppling occassional tree, prompting road closures and flooding low-lying areas in Edgartown, Oak Bluffs, Vineyard Haven and Menemsha.
High surf in the aftermath of Sandy beckoned surfers to stormy Aquinnah beaches, where surf crashed onto beaches and overwashed in many areas onto dunes.
