August 27, 2011, noon - Irene continues to track west of Cape Cod. It now seems the National Seashore will be spared the massive erosion that might have occurred. However, Cape beaches facing Nantucket Sound may suffer badly along with the ocean beaches of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. The sands around Monomoy Island, especially in the region around Stage Harbor may shift dramatically as a result of this event.

In anticipation of degraded water quality from heavy rain run-off and storm surge,the Commonwealth of Massachusetts will be closing all state waters to shell fishing starting at midnight tonight until further notice.

August 25, 2011, 6am - Hurricane Irene is currently forecast to make a long sideways swipe along the East Coast from North Carolina to Maine, arriving at Cape Cod on Sunday evening. The typical path for hurricanes heading north from Florida is to follow the Gulf Stream offshore into the mid-Atlantic. Last night the forecast track was directly over the Cape. This morning it's moved westward and now slices through Manhattan.

March 31, 2011 - Two tropical cyclone names in the Atlantic were retired from the official name rotation by the World Meteorological Organization’s hurricane committee because of the deaths and damage they caused in 2010. The committee issues the list of potential names for tropical cyclones to be used every six years for both the Atlantic and eastern North Pacific basins.

The names Igor and Tomas in the Atlantic would have appeared again in 2016 but will no longer be used.  In their places will be Ian and Tobias.

Details of the retired 2010 named storms are shown below:

• Igor (shown in NOAA image at right) was a classic Cape Verde hurricane, reaching Category 4 strength with 155 mph winds on Sept. 14, while located about 600 miles
  east of the northern Leeward Islands. The storm weakened to a Category 1 hurricane when it struck Bermuda on Sept. 19. Igor grew in size, with the area of tropical-storm-force winds becoming roughly 750 nautical miles wide.  Igor made landfall on Sept. 21 near Cape Race, Newfoundland.  It was the most damaging hurricane on that island in 75 years. Igor killed three people along its path.  Damage in Newfoundland is placed at almost $200 million U.S. dollars.
  
  

• Tomas became a hurricane on October 30 shortly after striking Barbados. It strengthened to a Category 2 storm striking  St. Vincent and St. Lucia, becoming the latest hurricane on record (1851-present) to strike the Windward Islands. After weakening to a tropical depression over the central Caribbean Sea, Tomas regained Category 1 strength on November 5 and moved between Jamaica and the southwest peninsula of Haiti, through the Windward Passage. It weakened just below hurricane strength before reaching the Turks and Caicos Islands.  Fourteen people are confirmed as dead, or missing, on St. Lucia. Total damage there is estimated to be around $500 million U.S. dollars. Heavy rains associated with Tomas triggered floods and landslides in Haiti. Haiti’s meteorological services states that the death toll in Haiti was 35.

Source - NOAA

December 29, 2010 - During the Christmas weekend storm that ended last Monday wind gusts of 80 mph were recorded on the Outer Cape and beaches suffered serious erosion. Near LeCount Hollow a 770-square-foot house at 475 Nellie Road, owned by Kathryn and Paul Murphy of Mansfield, lost some of its foundation and may be condemned. Here's more from Mary Ann Bragg."

November 10, 2010 - The wind that began blowing from the north on Saturday November 6, has continued into its fourth day as a full fledged Nor'easter with Victory-at-Sea, Force-7 gale conditions. Waves driven by the relentless north wind are maxed out along the National Seashore with near-beach faces in the 10' range.  Offshore, beyond Georges Bank, the seas will reach 30' tomorrow afternoon through Friday.

Even if the Harbor Master hadn't sent out the word, the weather has announced in no uncertain terms that Boating Season has officially ended.

This northeast wind will continue to blow hard through Thursday and then diminish slowly into Sunday when, blessedly, it is forecast to still be blowing from the north at a mere 5mph under skies that have opened to the sun.

Waves will still be overhead range on Sunday and will drop to chest high on Monday. One week from today the forecast shows a new head high swell coming up from the south.