Sadly, Isabel did not leave Long Beach unscathed. An off-duty Long Beach policeman decided to body surf yesterday (Thursday), and did not make it out of the water. He was reportedly an experienced body surfer, but nevertheless, he was apparently driven into the jetty. Newspaper accounts today will of course be more authoritative than I can be here, but more importantly, his family and friends are on the minds of many here in town. Please keep him in your thoughts this week as you catch each wave, and be careful when you're playing near the rocks.

At the beach, high tides came and went, apparently without any other significant incidents. Weather-wise, the main thing Isabel dealt Long Beach NY was a higher ocean with some wind and rain thrown in.

Because of Isabel's track from the Outer Banks inland and toward the northwest, the NY tri-state area didn't really have to deal with rain until way after the storm had moved onto land. Heck, I didn't even get rained on until I got back to the beach at about 3am Friday morning. I would have gotten wet earlier, but I had a musical commitment that kept me in a club until 1:30 in the morning - nice timing, right? It felt good though, all that warm, driving, tropical water (collected from somewhere in the Atlantic WAY south of here) pelting me on the face in the wee hours, standing on the boardwalk taking it all in...once again thankful to be alive.

The piles of sand that the City of Long Beach had pushed together on the beach in front of vehicular access points seemed largely intact. A smaller-scale indicator of just how easy we had it was the fact that none of my backyard planters were toppled over - and this is a backyard that's exposed to wind right off the bay.

Contrast my experience with the announcement the Virginia Beach Police Department made before the storm cam ashore: "Those who decide not to evacuate should write their names and addresses on their forearms with indelible marker" for easier identification later! Wow, these guys weren't messing around. I wonder if those folks are not washing their arms today, for a new type of "I survived the hurricane" fashion chic.

Surf-wise, it looks like the time to surf was, as is often the case, when Isabel approached. The Wednesday morning waves here in town were spectacular. The latest forecast has winds going offshore Saturday (well, at least for New Jersey and some eastern Long Island spots) but it remains to be seen just how much swell will still be around. Once these things head inland, the swell tends to drop dramatically. We'll see...

What do I know anyway? I may have taken a few meteorology courses in college, but I ain't no weather guru, you know. Cue the next storm, please...preferably before I leave town next week, OK?

Long Beach NY - Thursday, September 18 2003 - 7AM
Nothing remarkable to report yet from LB. High Tides aren't until 1:22 this afternoon (not critical) and then 2:06am & 2:14pm Friday (somewhat more critical).

No sign of notable erosion yet. Swells are head high plus, but VERY unorganized. It's kind of a peaky Maytag washing machine right now. The only guys surfing are those who probably couldn't get to the beach yesterday for the SICK ones that were coming in all morning.

Looks like the city payloaders have pushed some sandpiles in front of vehicular access points along the beach, in an effort to stave off any street flooding that may occur from the ocean side.

Metoroligist/Weightlifter Joe Bastardi (MSN Networks) said on the radio this morning that storm surge in our vicinity should be 3 feet maximum above normal high tide. Doesn't sound too critical, but we'll see. I'm stuck in the city until the wee hours tonight. (For musical reasons... hmmm) I'll be checking the bulk head in back of my house in LB when I get home at around 2-3 am Friday morning, and I'll report. Then, when I wake up at some ungodly hour to go to work a few hours later, another report.