NOEL

Well, Hurricane Noel passed by the Outer Banks yesterday and last night without much fanfare. Yesterday was blustery, with some wind gusts that would blow doors open or closed, and some salt accumulated on windshields, etc., but not much else happened. The ocean was very rough, and I heard about some minor over wash on the beach road, but that's pretty routine and happens several times each winter.

I haven't been on Hatteras Island since Thursday afternoon, when it was beginning to get a little breezy, but I suspect there was probably some over wash on Pea Island, or at least some blown sand on the road. We had some rain during the night when the wind sounded to be about at it's peak, but I don't think it was a significant amount. The leaves on some of the trees look like they're turning brown quickly, but after all it is November, so it's hard to know how much of that is because of the salt and how much is just normal for the time of year.

This morning the wind has shifted to the northwest, so the sound's filling back up, and it's not blowing as hard as it was earlier. I guess Noel has done whatever mischief he could, and is going on about his business. This morning I heard a news person on the radio refer to it as "the system formally known as hurricane Noel." I guess that's going out with a whimper.