Outer Banks surfers are eagerly awaiting the southeast swell from Hurricane Bill, which is forecast to pass several hundred miles east of the area tomorrow, perhaps bringing some of the best surf of the summer on Hatteras and Ocracoke.
However, the big waves that the surfers are hoping for will cause some inconveniences for other visitors.
Here are the headlines:
–The National Weather Service in Newport, N.C., has issued a coastal flood watch, a high surf advisory, and a rip current warning for the Outer Banks. The long-period southeast swell from Hurricane Bill is expected to start building tonight and peak tomorrow night at 9 to 14 feet.
Rip currents will be rampant, and people are being advised by the NWS to stay out of the water tomorrow.
In addition, a coastal flood advisory is in effect from tomorrow morning until Sunday morning for possible ocean overwash, especially on northern Hatteras Island at tomorrow?s high tides, about 9:30 a.m. and 10 p.m.
–Dare County has issued a travel advisory for the weekend, warning that the highway on Hatteras may be impassable during high tides on Saturday.
–The National Park Service will close the Cape Hatteras National Seashore beaches to ORVs at 6 p.m. today, but will keep visitor centers and campgrounds open.
–Hatteras Island rental companies are advising those renting cottages this week to leave today and not wait until checkout tomorrow, which is around 10 for most companies and is during the morning?s high tide when the highway is most likely to be overwashed. The companies are also advising visitors who are scheduled to check in tomorrow to check conditions before coming.
Here is more information:
THE SURFERS
?It?s just nuts,? said Daniel Pullen who writes about and photographs surfing for The Island Free Press.
Pullen also works at Natural Art Surf Shop in Buxton, where the phone is ringing non-stop as East Coast surfers try to decide where to go for the best surf from Bill.
Surfers here and up and down the East Coast, he said, are busy exchanging information and checking Web sites ? trying to guess where the best surf on the coast will be tomorrow and into Sunday.
Many of surfers, Pullen said, are betting that the very best surf will be from Delaware into New Jersey.
?The sites are saying it?s going to be epic,? Pullen said yesterday, but he?s not so sure.
?We get our best surf when we have a tropical storm or light hurricane with winds of, say, 40 to 80 miles an hour,? he added.
And he said the surf is best when the storm is heading straight for the Outer Banks, which Bill is expected to do only for a short time.
?Once they head north, the energy goes north,? he said.
And he said there is a possibility the surf will be way too big for all but the most experienced surfers.
?The surfers down here,? Pullen said, ?who haven?t experienced many storms are excited.?
The more experienced surfers are waiting and seeing, he said.
?Right now, it?s just a waiting game. Most surfers won?t make a move until Friday night or Saturday.?
SEASHORE BEACHES
Surfers will have to hike over the dunes to ride the waves tomorrow, since the seashore beaches will be closed to ORVs after 6 this evening.
This is from this afternoon media release from the Park Service:
?During periods of high tides, which will occur on Friday night at 8:51 p.m., Saturday morning at 9:22 a.m., Saturday night at 9:38 p.m., and Sunday morning at 10:11 a.m., the beaches of Cape Hatteras National Seashore will be closed to off-road vehicles due to unsafe conditions. Beaches are subject to high wave action, erosion, and unpredictable wind conditions. Shorelines will experience strong ocean rip currents making water activities extremely dangerous and park visitors are encouraged to stay out of the water until the storm passes and surf conditions improve.?
Obviously, fishermen, beachgoers, and swimmers don?t share the excitement of the surfers. None of those activities will probably be possible tomorrow.
You will be able to walk on the beach ? if there is any beach at the high tide.
The ocean could well be spectacular tomorrow with two or three sets of breaking waves out for as much as a quarter of a mile.
The best place to watch that will from the top of the dunes.
Park Service biologists and volunteers spent much of today excavating turtle nests that were within their hatch window and rescuing whatever hatchlings that they could. There were several hundred found alive on the south beaches of Hatteras alone. The baby turtles are being kept in coolers to be released tonight or when the heavy surf passes.
HIGHWAY 12 FLOODING
The National Weather Service issued a coastal flood watch this morning and warned of possible ocean overwash on problem areas of Highway 12 on Hatteras, notably northern Rodanthe.
Dare County issued a travel advisory yesterday afternoon:
?Hurricanes can create dangers even when they do not directly impact land. Dare County Emergency Management is asking visitors to be mindful of Hurricane Bill that will be passing well offshore of the Outer Banks on Saturday and Sunday, August 22 and 23. One concern is the likelihood of ocean over wash along areas of Highway 12 on Hatteras Island which may cause temporary closures of the roadway during periods of high tide. Travelers to Hatteras Island are asked to adjust their arrival and departure times to avoid high tide, if possible. Saturday high tides will be at approximately 10 a.m. and 10 p.m. Please contact your real estate company for information on road conditions or call Dare County Emergency Management at 252-475-5655.?
Beth Midgett, a rental manager for Midgett Realty, said this morning that most rental companies on the island started notifying visitors yesterday of the possibility of ocean overwash.
The companies, she said, are advising the renters to leave today ? or at the latest the low tide about 3 a.m. tomorrow morning.
Midgett said that her company started notifying ?extreme? oceanfront renters in northern Rodanthe yesterday. Today, she said, managers were notifying all other renters.
At this morning?s high tide, she said, water was already flowing down the driveway of Serendipity, the northernmost cottage in Rodanthe.
?Many said they were planning to leave early anyway,? Midgett said.
She added that since there is only a travel advisory and not any kind of evacuation order, ?All we can do is share our local knowledge? of likely overwash.
She said guests who are scheduled to check in tomorrow are being notified also of possible problems on the highway.
She said the county?s travel advisory was e-mailed to incoming guests yesterday and that they were being notified by phone today.
THE WEEKEND FORECAST
It?s obviously not going to be a beach weekend on Hatteras or Ocracoke, but the weather forecast isn?t bad.
According to the Weather Service, tomorrow?s forecast is for party cloudy skies with high temperatures in the upper 80s and only a slight chance of a thundershower. Winds will be out of the south at 10 to 15 knots.
The chance for rain will increase to 40 percent tomorrow night and 50 percent on Sunday with the approach of a cold front. But it will stay partly cloudy and warm.
And that cold front is what has kept Bill from threatening the Outer Banks with more than just big waves.
Our friends and contributors will all be looking for great photos of the extreme ocean conditions this weekend, and we will share them with you on Monday.
If you get any good photos, send them to me at editor@islandfreepress.org.
And I have just been advised that the State Police plan to close The Bonner Bridge and Rodanthe NC12 from 2 hrs before to 2 hrs after high tide for the next 2.5 days.
Right on, bring the waves! Wish I was down there to experience it. I always stay at the Outer Banks Motel and have seen some wicked weather and storm surges in my times of coming to the island. In October ?04 I witnessed a storm surge due to a tropical storm off the coast and literally watch the waves come over the dunes, underneath our beach cottage and into the parking lot. By the end of the day the water had stretched all the way across highway 12 into the parking lot of the coffee shop across from the motel. I got some great photo?s and it was one of the coolest experiences I witnessed. The next morning, one of the few that decided to stay discovered that his mini van was buried up to the window?s in sand. I had parked across the street and avoided that bad situation. So as long as the high waves don?t damage any property or cause too much beach erosion I say wecome it and enjoy it. Time to put down the fishing rods and pick up a board. Enjoy it dudes, peace & respect.
Right now, there is no plan to close the Bonner Bridge or Highway 12 before and after high tide for tomorrow or Sunday or any other day.
As most of us know, the highway is often closed for a few hours either side of high tide if there is ocean overwash.
That may or may not happen tomorrow ? though there is a decent chance there will be at least minor overwash.
Dare County and law enforcement agencies will wait to see what happens. If there is enough water and sand on the highway at high tide to make travel dangerous, the highway could be closed.
But it?s not a done deal until the heavy surf and overwash get here.
If you are concerned about being inconvenienced, leave Hatteras well before tomorrow morning?s 9:30 high tide.
spoke to the folks at midgett yesterday?they had told my rental guests to consider leaving friday?-i sure have no problem with that! here in NJ the surf and rips are cranking up and we are 300 mile north of you! sad to say i think there will be problems up and down the coast as folks get themself?s into trouble. common sense is not that common it seems
?Dare County and law enforcement agencies will wait to see what happens. If there is enough water and sand on the highway at high tide to make travel dangerous, the highway could be closed.?
Why can?t the NPS use common sense like this? Replace highway with beach.