Weather with a Capital W

We are having Weather.  I mean we always have weather, but right now we are having the Capitalized Version.  These waves are battering against the massive breakfront of the Brighton Marina.

News media tell us to expect the worst storm in 20 years, or possibly the worst storm in 5 years.  We started the day with pouring rain, but that cleared and the sun came out, but we had gale winds of 43 mph with gusts up to 63mph.  But tonight is the night when it is getting really bad.  We are told that we could reach 12 on the Beaufort Wind Scale, which is Hurricane Force- winds up to 85mph.  The worst should be over by midday tomorrow - about when people in the US are getting up.

Here's more breakfront.

It's quite interesting to see the difference between the weather forecasts here and in the US.  Several times a season, we get Nor'easters which can be pretty bad, though mostly not as bad as what is predicted here.  There's always a lot of panicky advice on the radio - Fill your bathtub! Get plenty of drinking water! Buy hand sanitizer! Flashlights! Candles! Cold Food! Prepare to Lose Power etc.

They've been so laid back here. Possible power outages have scarcely been mentioned. We think it might be because most power lines are underground here. But still, we have heard that some areas are already experiencing power outages.

The biggest warnings have been for people at sea.  That makes sense.  And the advice we have heard here is to batten down, bring in things that might blow around and break something. And to be careful at the sea front. The wind can blow rocks, which can hurt you. Also, gusts and wave action can wash people off precarious places, like the groynes.  We have already heard about a teenager who has disappeared while swimming in the sea today.  Stupid but tragic.

Naturally, we took a walk along the sea front today, along with half of Brighton.  We were careful, and never in any danger of anything worse that getting wet. We didn't even go under the Coastguard tape, which most people were doing. The waves were fantastic to watch.  The wind was full of salt - so that my lips were salty when I licked them.  My hair also tastes salty. I came home and washed my face and hands.  The COG took a direct hit from a wave while taking a photo, but that was the worst damage.

Here is the COG's hair, during a warm up coffee break at MacD's:

Did I mention there were surfers?  Here are 3 of them.  They seemed to be enjoying themselves, though it's hard for me to understand how. They mostly bobbed around in rough cold sea, diving under the waves. If they got a chance to stand on their boards, their run lasted 3 or 4 seconds, tops. 

Still,  the walk was wonderful - so exhilarating!  Now we are home, hunkered down.  Plenty of food and water and a flashlight and some candles - though I have to find some matches. That's the fatal flaw.  There is a heavy rain splattering against the windows and lots of wind.

It's possible we could lose power, though I doubt it.  I"m just going to enjoy the storm, and let the COG worries about all the bad things that might happen.