Before & After Pics – We Were Lucky In Eastern Harford County

I toured the water’s edge around Joppatowne / Edgewood / Abingdon. In this area are tributaries that pour into the Gunpowder and Bush rivers – both of which empty into the Chesapeake Bay.

We were very lucky that hurricane Sandy dissipated as quickly and as much as it did. Even with significantly less rain than predicted, the Gunpowder River  has crept close to Rt 40.

Here are some pictures of what areas looked like before Sandy and then late this morning, after the storm:

The boat launch at Mariner Point Park, Joppatowne, on a nicer day:

And this morning, the piers are submerged:

So Far – So Good / The Day After Hurricane Sandy

The eye of the storm passed over my area (eastern Harford County) starting about 8pm last night. No rain. No wind. It was a bit eerie after a day full of wind gusts and driving rain. I fell asleep, hoping for a short nap before the core of the storm hit us after they eye passed. But it was non-eventful. Sandy lost steam upon landfall. Instead of forecasted wind gusts of 70+mph, we had winds of 20-30mph – more like a strong breeze. Gentle moderate rain made for a good nights’ sleep.

Hurricane Sandy as Evening Begins, Eastern Harford County

The brunt of the storm is beginning; there’s a definite change in intensity. This is no longer a rain storm. We’re having strong wind gusts with moderate rain. Weather service is reporting winds of 37mph, still from the northwest, and gusts up to 54 mph.

There’s some minor damage in the neighborhood as seen from my home.  A dead tree is down:

Chronicling Hurricane Sandy

Right now, Sandy is strong enough to be fascinating but not too scary. We’re having winds of 29mph from the NW, with gusts up to 35mph here in eastern Harford County. We just went through a little lull but another strong band is beginning. There’s not much to take a pic of here in my suburban development. When a gust hits, you can see the rain falling sideways but I can’t capture it on my camera. Otherwise, it’s just a strong rain storm.

Bidding Adieu to Fall Flowers

This milkweed pod opens to let its seeds escape.

Even though there was a frost warning on Friday night, there are still fall flowers blooming in northern Baltimore County. We found these at Oregon Ridge Nature Center –