Monday’s stormy weather was a cut above the usual rain storms that pass over the Vineyard in November. There was lightning and thunder and for a while leaves flying through the air carried by gusty winds. More blinding was the significant rain, almost three inches.
Following months of below average rainfall, a drought advisory is now in effect for the Cape and Islands, the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency announced Tuesday. Dry ponds and low streams are evident all around the Island, even though October has seen good amounts of rain.
Minor coastal flooding is possible Wednesday morning in Southeastern Massachusetts, including on the Vineyard, the National Weather Service said. The full moon will combine with strong southerly winds and building seas to produce extreme high tides.
October is off to a wet start — so much so that the National Weather Service issued a flood watch for Wednesday night, with the possibility of three to six inches of rain. The watch is in effect until Thursday morning.
On August 31, 1954, Hurricane Carol ravaged the harbors and shorelines of the Vineyard. Eleven days later and 60 years ago today, Edna struck the Island even more directly than Carol. Rare film footage tracks the eye of Edna passing over Chappaquiddick, and Islanders recall that day.
The National Weather Service cooperative station in downtown Edgartown saw a changing of the guard this week when meteorologists came to replace the small wooden shelter that houses thermometers. The weather service has collected its field data the same way since 1946.
A hurricane outlook released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association says the region will be seeing hurricane activity at normal or less than normal levels. The Atlantic hurricane season began June 1 and runs through Nov. 30.
A week after winter had officially come to an end, an early spring gale battered the Vineyard Wednesday, shutting down ferries and sending Islanders indoors for one more snow day.
A blizzard watch was upgraded to a warning Tuesday afternoon as a powerful ocean storm stayed on track to lash the Vineyard overnight with heavy snow, flooding at the time of high tides and gale-force winds. Cancellations were announced for Wednesday morning.
The Island awoke to a fresh blanket of snow Sunday following an overnight blast of more winter weather. Total snowfall overnight was 5.5 inches at the National Weather Service station in Edgartown. By afternoon sledders were out in force on sunny Island slopes.
