Saturday featured some truly wiled weather! The morning began with fog and periods of moderate rain. For much of the afternoon we just saw light, scattered rain showers.

By evening, winds began to whip with gusts between 40-60 MPH. Here in Hingham a gust to 46 MPH was recorded, and several trees were knocked down. One came down on Sanborn Road, and another fell on Summer Street. The tree on Summer Street also took down several wires, closing the road for hours. Periods of heavy rainfall also raced through the area during the evening. Rainfall totals generally ranged from 0.75-1.25″ in and around Hingham. A Tornado Watch was issued for much of Massachusetts, including Hingham, for a time, but never verified. That is very rare for this area, especially in November. Temperatures through all of this warmed into the middle and upper 60s, certainly making it easy to forget that it is November!

A Nor’Easter quickly developed to our South on Tuesday, and moved up through the area during the day. We saw periods of rain, wind and even snow out to the west. As the storm passed by our barometric pressure fell to a very low 29.16″, showing just how strong this storm was. Submit your storm report.

The Rain: The rain timeline worked out very well, with periods of heavy rain falling between the mid morning and early afternoon. There after we just saw scattered rain showers through the evening. The only surprise was about an hour of partial sunshine which developed during the middle part of the afternoon.

The Snow: Colder air poured into the area as expected Tuesday night, changing the left over showers to flurries in parts of Western Massachusetts and the higher terrain of Central Massachusetts. Only towns in the Berkshires saw appreciable accumulation.

The Wind: Gusty winds were a big problem with this storm, mainly along the immediate coast line. Nantucket recorded wind gusts over 60 MPH, while the rest of the area recorded wind gusts within the 30-50 MPH range.

This weekend’s forecast worked out pretty much as planned with mostly cloudy skies on Saturday as a cold front approached the region. That front brought rain to the Boston area Saturday night, along with very gusty winds. The rain moved offshore during the pre-dawn hours of Sunday, and clouds also moved out during the morning. Rainfall totals generally were between the predicted 0.50-1.00″. Here in Hingham we recorded 0.98″. Our peak wind gusts were 36 MPH on Saturday and 35 MPH early Sunday morning. Minor damage was reported here in Hingham due to the wind. On Winter Street, for example, the road had to be shut down for a time around midnight as crews cleaned a a tree with power lines that came down.

A strong coastal storm moved off to our southeast during the day on Sunday, and spread clouds into Eastern Massachusetts for much of the day. In addition, winds were quite gusty during the day. Here in Hingham a peak gust of 29 MPH was recorded. While the winds resulted in lots of leaf drop, not much damage was reported. One tree did fall onto Pheasant Run, however, and was removed by the tree department. At the time of high tide (3:20 PM), the winds also caused some minor splash over near the Yacht Club.

Temperatures this past month were close to normal overall, but the month was far wetter than normal. Tropical moisture from Hanna during the beginning of the month and then a strong coastal storm during the second half of the month brought most of that rainfall. This month’s data, and data from Septembers in years past is below. For more weather data, visit www.hinghamweather.com/hinghamdata.html

September 2008

High: 86.2
Low: 43.0

Wind Gust: 28 MPH
Rainfall: 8.43”

Average High: 71.3
Average Low: 57.2
Average Temperature: 64.2

September 2007

High: 90.9
Low: 42.8

Wind Gust: 25 MPH
Rainfall: 3.33”

Average High: 74.9
Average Low: 57.0
Average Temperature: 66.0

September 2006

High: 81.1
Low: 42.1

Wind Gust: 27 MPH
Rainfall: 2.34”

Average High: 70.8
Average Low: 55.4
Average Temperature: 63.1

September 2005

High: 86.2
Low: 45.5

Wind Gust: 45 MPH
Rainfall: 3.23”

Average High: 74.9
Average Low: 58.6
Average Temperature: 66.8

September 2004

High: 84.0
Low: 47.5

Wind Gust: 34 MPH
Rainfall: 6.91”

Average High: 73.8
Average Low: 56.7
Average Temperature: 65.3

Earlier this week Hurricane Ike reached Category 4 status. Now, however, Ike is a category 2 storm in the Gulf of Mexico. It is a sprawling storm, with tropical storm and hurricane fore winds extending hundreds of miles from the center. In fact, its size rivals that of Hurricane Katrina. On the current forecast track, Ike will strike the Galveston area late Friday night into Saturday. Storm Surge flooding is the main threat with this storm, and it could prove to be devastating on the immediate coastline. The National Weather Service issued stern warnings ahead of the storm, which can be found below. I should also mention that this week marks the 108th anniversary of the deadly 1900 Galveston hurricane which killed thousands of people.

STORM SURGE FLOOD POTENTIAL FROM THE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE

MAXIMUM WATER LEVELS FORECAST:

GULF-FACING COASTLINE WEST OF SARGENT…5 TO 8 FEET

SHORELINE OF MATAGORDA BAY…5 TO 8 FEET

GULF-FACING COASTLINE SARGENT TO HIGH ISLAND
INCLUDING GALVESTON ISLAND……12 TO 16 FEET

SHORELINE OF GALVESTON BAY…15 TO 22 FEET

LIFE THREATENING INUNDATION LIKELY!

ALL NEIGHBORHOODS…AND POSSIBLY ENTIRE COASTAL COMMUNITIES…
WILL BE INUNDATED DURING THE PERIOD OF PEAK STORM TIDE.
PERSONS NOT HEEDING EVACUATION ORDERS IN SINGLE FAMILY ONE OR TWO STORY
HOMES WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH. MANY RESIDENCES OF AVERAGE
CONSTRUCTION DIRECTLY ON THE COAST WILL BE DESTROYED. WIDESPREAD
AND DEVASTATING PERSONAL PROPERTY DAMAGE IS LIKELY ELSEWHERE.
VEHICLES LEFT BEHIND WILL LIKELY BE SWEPT AWAY. NUMEROUS ROADS
WILL BE SWAMPED…SOME MAY BE WASHED AWAY BY THE WATER. ENTIRE
FLOOD PRONE COASTAL COMMUNITIES WILL BE CUTOFF. WATER LEVELS MAY
EXCEED 9 FEET FOR MORE THAN A MILE INLAND. COASTAL RESIDENTS IN
MULTI-STORY FACILITIES RISK BEING CUTOFF. CONDITIONS WILL BE
WORSENED BY BATTERING WAVES. SUCH WAVES WILL EXACERBATE PROPERTY
DAMAGE…WITH MASSIVE DESTRUCTION OF HOMES…INCLUDING THOSE OF
BLOCK CONSTRUCTION. DAMAGE FROM BEACH EROSION COULD TAKE YEARS TO
REPAIR.

Tropical Storm Hanna raced across Southern New England early Sunday morning, packing gusty winds and heavy rainfall. Most places around the state saw 3-5″ of rain, with isolated 6″ amounts. The strongest winds were observed early Sunday morning as the storm’s center moved through, with a gust to 28 MPH recorded here in Hingham. Down on the Cape gusts ranged from 45-55 MPH. Overall, the prior forecasts for the storm verified nicely (see below).

No major damage was reported, but numerous reports of minor flooding and wind related problems did surface around the state. Power outages were limited to coastal areas for the most part. The center of the storm, just before passing offshore, moved very close to Hingham, as our pressure bottomed out at 29.43″ early Sunday morning.  Please share your storm reports or pictures to be posted online: weather@hinghamweather.com

August 2008

This was a pretty cool August, with only a few days of 80s and no days of 90s. Thunderstorms were common for the first half the month, but tranquil weather dominated the second half of it.

Average High: 77.5
Average Low: 61.5
Average Temperature: 69.5

High: 84.2
Low: 53.4
Rainfall: 4.23”

August 2007

Average High: 82.3
Average Low: 63.4
Average Temperature: 72.8

High: 94.1
Low: 50.7
Rainfall: 0.77”

August 2006

Average High: 78.4
Average Low: 62.3
Average Temperature: 70.4

High: 96.8
Low: 52.7
Rainfall: 5.56”

August 2005

Average High: 80.5
Average Low: 63.6
Average Temperature: 72.1

High: 95.4
Low: 58.3
Rainfall: 9.45”

August 2004

Average High: 80.1
Average Low: 61.2
Average Temperature: 70.7

High: 90.7
Low: 52.2
Rainfall: 6.34”

Thousands of people living on a south China island fear rising sea levels may soon take their homes and their livelihoods. The sea is eating into the 25-square-kilometer Weizhou Island, submerging beaches, coastlines and buffer forests. The 15,000 residents of the island, 20 nautical miles south of Beihai City, Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, have seen the seawater creeping inland for the past decade. “In the bay area were buffer forests, but the seawater has crept 60 to 70 meters into the island,” said 76-year-old resident Zhou Ziquan. Jiang Taile, a restaurant owner, said he once drove his car on the beach up to 40 meters away from the present water line, which is spotted with the stumps of trees that have died in the salt water. The beach area was full of seawater even at low tide, said Jiang. Chen Xiangxu, a Weizhou Town construction official, said seawater had made inroads of more than 100 meters at some sites. The high tides even splashed the windows of homes behind the island’s levees, said Chen. Many residents worried that the island would be eaten away, Chen said, but they were yet to consider moving their homes. High tides were gradually getting higher according to records, said Li Wuquan, head of the State Oceanic Administration’s Beihai Oceanic Environment Monitoring Center. Global warming was believed by experts to be a key cause of the rising seas, but there were also human factors. The protective coral reef has been destroyed by the taking of coral for money and fishing with explosives. Tourist diving at scenic sites also affected the reefs. “Little remains of the coral reef, which helped prevent erosion in the shore area around the island,” said Jiang. The official said the township government had banned fishing with explosives near the reef and been cracking down on coral harvesting. Some coastal areas have been listed as special protection areas. [RSOE]

Tropical Depression 8 formed in the Atlantic early Thursday morning, and by midday was Tropical Storm Hanna. The storm will pass North of the Leeward Islands, but may become a hurricane as it continues toward the Northwest over the next several days.