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Small Cabin Forum / Nature / Watching your cabin get battered from afar
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davestreck
Member
# Posted: 23 Mar 2014 21:34 - Edited by: davestreck
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Does anyone else hate this? We live 750 miles from our cabin north of Halifax, Nova Scotia, which means we only get up there once a summer. For the rest of the year, we worry about whats happening up there. Have to local meth-heads broken in again? Has that big tree finally come down on the porch roof? Is rainwater creeping in through some unseen crack and rotting out the walls? We never know the answers to these questions till we actually see the cabin on our annual visit.

So now there is this:

Current weather models are showing a potential for a pressure of as low as 948mb in Halifax during the upcoming Noreaster currently forecast to hit on Wednesday. That would be about as low a reading as has ever been recorded in Nova Scotia. Forecasters are saying it could be a "supercyclone". The NWS in Boston says:

All models show bombogenesis Tuesday night with 12-hour pressure falls around 30 millibars and 18-hour pressure falls near 40 millibars which is quite remarkable. Models have sub-970 millibar low crossing our latitude Wednesday morning and sub-960 millibar approaching Nova Scotia.

948 millibars is 4.7 standard deviations outside the 30-year average. That's a one in a million storm.

So here we will sit, wondering if we will have a cabin to go back to this summer. We can do nothing about it but hope. Man that sucks.

MtnDon
Member
# Posted: 23 Mar 2014 21:41
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Best of luck. Watching and wondering from afar would be preferable to being stuck on the island with an incoming storm of this magnitude.

toyota_mdt_tech
Member
# Posted: 23 Mar 2014 21:52
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I have befriended a local guy who watches my place like a hawk. First visit in the spring, I slide him a $100 to grease the wheels. Its optional, he doesn't demand for it. I do it on my own. We have become great friends and if I did have an issue, I could have him patch it up till I got there. And also know what I need to make repairs as he would relay, or take pictures of any damage etc.

I built mine as stout as a brick fecal matter house. And I put covers over the windows when I leave. I have trimmed back many branches, fully fenced and gated. Never had an issue yet (knock on wood) and there is no way out when you drive back towards it, you must go past my buddy and he watches everyone who goes in or out. If you dont come back out shortly, then he drives in and checks up on you. Its private roads, members only and its posted as such.

davestreck
Member
# Posted: 23 Mar 2014 21:56 - Edited by: davestreck
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Here's the map that has me freaking out. Ground zero is right on top of our island:



davestreck
Member
# Posted: 23 Mar 2014 22:08 - Edited by: davestreck
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We do have a small group of friends up there who check in on the place every now and then. But it being so remote means that months can go by between visits. A hole in the roof left open for a month would ruin everything we have stored inside.

Its unnerving when you realize that so much of your hard work could be undone so easily. Such is the price we pay for solitude, I suppose.

bldginsp
Member
# Posted: 23 Mar 2014 22:38 - Edited by: bldginsp
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Ouch- like knowing that one of three planes crashed, and your sister was on one of the three- but you don't know which one. All you can do is sit and wait.

Bombogenesis- that's a new one for me. Sounds bad.

Did you secure your cabin to the ground or is it on skids or piers on grade?

What kind of wind speeds are expected?

VTweekender
Member
# Posted: 24 Mar 2014 07:23
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Quoting: bldginsp
What kind of wind speeds are expected?

those numbers in millibars would suggest way way over 100 mph at the center....

turkeyhunter
Member
# Posted: 24 Mar 2014 07:39
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my Northern camp ( Maine ) got hit with 32 inches of snow in the past week or so....a neighbor I met he lives a half mile up the road. Him and his wife walk their dog by my camp every evening ( weather permitting) we text about the weather /hunting / fishing etc...an they keep me posted on my camp. He texted me Thursday and said your metal roof on your porch HAD lots of snow...I got the got the snow off for you...;)....which is a relief know you have good people keeping a eye on the camp. When I got up in the spring...a couple of nice bottles of Wine, maybe a quart of local moonshine...and some pecans/peaches. Just to let them know I appreciate it.

bldginsp
Member
# Posted: 24 Mar 2014 08:57
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When I bought my parcel, I didn't like the fact that the road goes right thru the middle of it. There are only two parcels above mine, and one is permanently occupied, so they drive it every day. Now I'm glad for that- no one, as far as I know, has ever messed with anything on the property. Never seen any evidence of anyone on the property that I did not expect to be there. So there are advantages and disadvantages to 'privacy'.

silverwaterlady
Member
# Posted: 24 Mar 2014 17:48
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Hi davestreck, I hope your sweet cabin is going to be ok. I know how much hard work it was to build it since you are on a remote island. I really love the shutters you built for your cabin. Hope to do that for ours someday. Good luck and keep us updated on the storm.

TheCabinCalls
Member
# Posted: 24 Mar 2014 19:26
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davestreck...we had a friend that sold his place for that very reason. Each year they used it less and only went to check on it or do reactive work on it. Their kids are now at an age where they don't go but once a year and so they decided to sell.

It is hard to keep tabs on your place and keep it out of your mind too. There are devices now that allows for tracking or monitoring, but they can cost a lot to setup and run. Best to realize what happens will happen even if you just visited your place some could happen the minute you leave again. Good luck not worry...I am working on that myself. Just make sure you enjoy it more than you worry about it!

stickbowcrafter
Member
# Posted: 25 Mar 2014 07:08
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I would be more stressed about only getting to enjoy my cabin once a year....YIKES!

I hope all is well with your place. I worry about mine and it is only an 1.5 hour drive with little on the land yet to worry about.

-Brian

VTweekender
Member
# Posted: 25 Mar 2014 12:08
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Just wanted to say that I hope you come out of this nasty storm OK....the good news is that they have now backed off a little bit on the millibars dropping that far in 24 hours, originally they were talking the pressure dropping 52 millibars in 24 hours which would have most likely been the monster of all time....but now they are thinking a bit less, maybe only 70 mph winds, still not good but better, and it is tracking right for Nova Scotia.

trollbridge
Member
# Posted: 25 Mar 2014 12:13
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keeping my fingers crossed......

cbright
Member
# Posted: 25 Mar 2014 15:08
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My place, also in Nova Scotia is going to take a beating... hopefully nothing gets destroyed.... luckily it is on my main property, so I can check on it after the storm. Super nice and sunny out right now... supposed to start around 7am and last for over 12 hours.

Thinking of setting my GoPro up to do a timelapse ... might get some crazy images!

TheCabinCalls
Member
# Posted: 25 Mar 2014 16:09
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Please do setup the gopro (if safe) - would love to see it!

davestreck
Member
# Posted: 25 Mar 2014 17:30
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VTWeekender: Its definitely good news about the forecast being revised. We're still looking at significant snowfall and potentially damaging winds, but I'm not hearing "supercyclone" anymore. Still, its going to be nerve-wracking. We're definitely going to need to bring the chainsaw with us on our next visit.

Also good is that most of the winds should be out of the north for most of the storm (starting NE and swinging to NNW, IIRC), which puts us on the lee side of the island.

I plan on checking in with our friends up there after the storm passes to see how they made out. I expect one of them will head out to the island within the next few days to check on the place, and if there is ant significant damage, I guess I'll have to take a few days off from work and head up there to deal with it.

cbright I second The CabinCalls: I'd love to see a vid of how the storm plays out in NS! Good luck to you as well.

Thanks everyone else for your good wishes. Fingers are crossed down here...

VTweekender
Member
# Posted: 26 Mar 2014 12:01
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The Weather Channel has Mike Sidel stationed in Halifax reporting the storm, tune into Weather Channel if you get it or online weather channel .com, a 70mph gust reported on the coast already up there.

davestreck
Member
# Posted: 26 Mar 2014 17:00
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From weather dot com:

NOAA buoy 44027, located 23 miles southeast of Jonesport, Maine, reported a wind gusts of 119 mph at 1:49 p.m. EDT Wednesday.

In Canada, a wind gust of 100 mph was reported at Grand Etang, N.S. Wednesday afternoon; a gust of 83 mph at Beaver Island, N.S.

Sustained wind of 62 mph recorded at Brier Island along the southwest coast of Nova Scotia early Wednesday afternoon.


bldginsp
Member
# Posted: 26 Mar 2014 17:39
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Do you have an updated millibar map?

cbright
Member
# Posted: 27 Mar 2014 11:55
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Here is my video of the storm.... only FB at the moment.

Make sure to click "HD" and go fullscreen ... otherwise it appears tiny.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10152275964676405&l=5346093018445404343

Winds got stronger after it got dark... blew hard through the night, but no major damage around me. Snow blowed for about 2 hours before bed (2' deep) and had to snow blow another foot in the morning. Nice and sunny out now and the forecast for Saturday is 11c (50f) and sunny.

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