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FROM MILD TO WILD
The Many Faces of a Cape Cod Winter
by David Gallagher
Originally published in Inside Cape Cod, January 2003
“Sleet and more of it, rushes of it, attacks of it, screaming descents of it; I heard it on the roof, on the sides of the house, on the windowpanes... Streaming over the dunes, the storm howled west over the moors. The islands of the marsh were brownish black, the channels leaden and whipped up by the wind... A scene of incredible desolation and cold.”
Henry Beston tells of the ferocity of a winter storm on Cape Cod in his 1928 book The Outermost House. This modern classic describes a year on Great Beach in Eastham, and captures in vivid detail the power of a Cape winter storm.
A Cape Cod winter is a special thing to behold, a time and a place of great beauty and harsh reality. It is unique, often a study in extremes, ranging from warm to frigid, sometimes in the same week. Some of our most exhilarating weather happens during the winter. Snow squalls, tidal-surges, crashing waves and nor’easters can all be winter visitors to the Cape.
Today, these storms often serve as a kind of entertainment, best observed beside a crackling fire or sipping coffee in a warm car by the sea. But sometimes, these winter visitors bare their teeth, and we see again the elements that challenged past generations.
Cape Cod is known for its mild winters -- just ask anyone who enjoyed a round of golf last February. It is the Cape’s unique geography that powers our weather engine. Often, a storm that dumps inches of snow in Boston leaves the Cape with little more than a cold rain.
David Read loves Cape Cod weather. While not a meteorologist by training, Read has kept a keen eye towards Cape weather since 1979 as an announcer for WQRC radio in Hyannis. With the help of the National Weather Service, two dozen weather watchers on- and off-Cape, and well-known weather veteran Don Kent, Read works to forecast the Cape’s changing winter weather.
“We usually have mild winters due to the warming effect of the ocean,” states Read, “but the ocean also makes the climate more changeable and more difficult to forecast.”
FROM MILD TO WILD
It’s the volatility of Cape winter weather that keeps forecasters on their toes. A mild day can turn cold fast, and the winter wind coming off that so-called “warm” ocean can chill the bones. It’s these same waters that can bring some of our fiercest winter storms: the Nor’easters.
Nor'easters are among winter's most ferocious storms. A nor'easter gets its name from its strong northeasterly winds blowing in from the ocean ahead of the storm and over coastal areas.
“The main issue with the Cape this time of year is its proximity to Nor’easters,” states Read. “These storms come across the country, move offshore and up the east coast. They can gain strength as they approach New England. The difficulty comes in forecasting how close to the coast the storm will track.”
Nor'easters are notorious for producing heavy snow, rain, and waves, often causing beach erosion and structural damage. Wind gusts associated with these storms have been known to exceed hurricane force in intensity, and some nor'easters may develop characteristics similar to hurricanes, such as an eye in the center.
Some notable storms have wreaked havoc upon Cape Cod and the islands in recent years.
The No-Name Storm of 1991 -- also called the Perfect Storm and made into a best-selling book and film -- damaged or destroyed more than 1,000 homes from Maine to the Carolinas. On the Cape, the storm caused extreme damage to the coastline.
“The No-Name Storm hung on,” said Read. “It refused to go away for five days. There was a high level of erosion, particularly on the outer Cape. It was worse than some hurricanes.”
The Blizzard of 1978 was more powerful than anyone expected, and yet Cape Cod was lucky. Despite all the damage, the worst of the storm lay to the west, where most of New England was buried under two to four feet of snow.
It still wasn’t pretty on the Cape. The winds increased until they peaked at 92 miles per hour at Chatham; coastline damage was inevitable. A high tide on a new moon combined with the storm-generated waves to produce a tide some 14.5 feet above mean low water.
Waves repeatedly swept over the most of Nauset Spit. Most of the wind-built dunes of Nauset Spit were reduced to low mounds. In the process, four houses were destroyed, including Henry Beston's Outermost House. It had survived those long years, and had finally met the storm it could not ride out.
BE PREPARED
Today, David Read is not afraid to make a long-range prediction for this winter.
“The last couple of years have been mild,” states Read, “but with El Nino kicking up again and changing the jet stream patterns, I think that we’re going to have a good old-fashioned New England winter – colder and more typically New England.”
Read also believes that Cape residents need to understand the unique aspects of the local weather, and plan for the worst.
“People need to be aware of their position in relation to the flood plain,” states Read. “A lot of people in this area do live in a flood plain, and don’t know it. There has been a lot of development in the past 15 or 20 years. These people will be in a great deal of danger if we get a serious storm.”
How can Cape residents prepare for a powerful winter storm? According to Read, the first step is to learn whether or not your home rests on a flood plain. It is information readily available at any town hall.
The second step is to monitor weather reports, and to take them seriously. If there is a call for evacuation, it is important to heed it, states Read.
“Most of the damage that happens during these storms is water damage” said Read. “Storm surges can submerge quite a lot of real estate, and can precede the winds.”
Hopefully, you will never need to take any action besides these simple precautions. But being ready allows us to relax and enjoy the weather, no matter how loud the storm gets. We can then sit back, make a nice cup of hot cocoa, sit back, and enjoy the fierce beauty of a Cape Cod winter. Indoors.
<END>
© David Gallagher 2005.
May not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, displayed, published or broadcast without written permission of the author. For reprint inquiries, please contact the author. He won't bite.
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