Sunrise 8-25-11

The wind picked up a little overnight, but nothing to fret about; surf building from the sound.  Sunrise presented a fairly tranquil scene; waves cresting at 6-8 feet, winds from the east at 10-12 mph; scattered clouds blowing in fast from sea, but no rain.

10 a.m.: sustained winds at 12-15 now; waves in the 10-foot range and completely out of control.  You can clearly see the force of the surge coming in.  Poor wave form for surfing, but fun to watch; couldn’t paddle through the white water if we felt so inclined, and we don’t.

2 p.m.:  very blustery under still mostly sunny skies; winds at 15-20; seas continuing to build.  Hard to judge wave heights with so much turbulence and nobody out on them, but best guess is there are some 12-foot sets mowing through now.  The palms are all dancing wildly now, as is everything down to the beach sun flowers.  No beach or dune erosion yet, with next high around 6 p.m.  Worries up in Flagler county on A1A, about 8 miles from here, where last storm nearly undermined the road.  Lots of erosion there.  Our dune is intact and a good 10 feet above sea level, with the house another 4 feet higher.  Irene should be directly opposite us tomorrow, so we’ll know extent of any erosion then.  No wind damage expected.  It’s just a spectacular show, with hourly changes.

                                                                        This is from the roof of the studio.  The truck passing on A1A gives a little perspective, with the water about a hundred feet beyond.  Small craft warning in effect, especially trucks.