A Surprise Storm

A surprise came for us on Friday the 9th, as the tail end of the coastal snow storm passed over us on its way out to sea. We experienced what meteorologists call 'The Bomb', a sudden phenomenon with exceedingly high winds, quite like the microburst I remember from the Adirondacks in July '95. I was idiot enough to capture a few pictures outside during the height of the storm. They would have been less blurry if the trees had only held still! 


Trees dance with the wind. 


Tree trunks in motion. 


Dark storm in the meadow, 3:34 p.m. 


Lots of branch clusters of this size were flying at the house during the height of the storm, some rolling on the roof creating concerns about what I couldn't see. 


A tipped spruceling went first to one side, and I was hoping I might be able to right and stake it when the storm was through. And then a large white pine crashed atop of it. It may still have a future as our Christmas tree. 


The shattered stump of the larger white pine. 


The white pine in question. 


One of the old dead pines came down by the garden shed, threatening the peach tree. 


When the storm was through, power was out throughout the outer Cape, and word began to trickle in about the extent of the damage, so many trees sheered off or uprooted, and plenty of power line damage. Owen's usual commute of ten minutes took closer to four hours, but we enjoyed a candlelit evening with a roaring fire to stay warm. Here Em relaxes near the hearth. 

Tomorrow: What We Found In the Morning.