Gale Force Winds

These shots were taken in high winds where I could not hold the camera steady. Most were shot at extreme zoom focal length from within our rocking Jeep as we got blasted by sand from the beaches. Please forgive the graininess. See photos below, click to enlarge.

The night before last the wind began to pick up and the temperature plummeted. It was an arctic high blowing down our way, pushing steady 40 mph winds gusting 55 to 60 mph, short of a hurricane, but windy. With the wind chill factor the temperature was + or - zero. A normally placid Long Island Sound was whipped into a froth, seas reaching 8 - 10+ feet, endangering shipping. I got an early shot of a tug keeping a barge from running aground just north of Greenport, this before the storm hit it's stride. The tumult in the water tossed the small stuff (bait fish) around out of control making it a field day for the gulls having a feeding frenzy.




At Southold Town Beach the wind was so strong that I couldn't force the door of our Jeep open, but this fellow trying to impress his girlfriend made it out and grabbed a sign post just before being whisked off his feet and on to the hood of his car. That's show biz!



Here a tanker is in shallow water, 30 - 40 feet just off the Mattituck Inlet Jetty. It promises to be a long night for the captain of this vessel, fighting the broadside winds just off a lee shore.

It's Official, Winter, Day One 12/21/09

Some are calling our biggest snow event of all recorded time (National Weather Service) a blizzard but I think it's been more of a snow storm when compared to storms in my mother's youth. She remembers her father stringing a wire from the house to the barn so that he and the boys could get back and forth safely without losing their way in a blizzard that lasted for three days! We did get a full two feet of snow here on the North Fork and experienced some white-out conditions when gusts up to forty miles per hour occurred, swirling snow sideways and every other possible direction including up. High drifts have been removed from parts of Main Road where the wind with unobstructed fetch over farmland acreage scooped up snow and dropped it where it was most inconvenient. These spots have to be continually cleared until the wind dies down.

One beautiful side effect of the wind on snow is the way in which it sculpts free form shapes playing with light and shadow, making it a delightful wintry wonderland.

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Near white-out driving conditions. At night it was totally unsafe.


Three drift sculptures captured on a country lane in Southold Town. Please click on photos to enlarge.










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Finally... a nearly clear day!

A shot of the greater Greenport harbor from the commercial fishing trawler docks.



Standing at the head of Southhold's Town Creek.



Town Creek home.



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Dad's Sunset -- Long Island Sound

My Father has gracefully passed away. I'm remembering so many things from my childhood. He will be missed by us all.