Nor'easter to Bring Rain and Flooding to Hampton Roads

I did not do my usual early morning blogging today. Instead the boyfriend and I scurried around moving things out of the back yard, putting lawn equipment up on folding tables in the storage shed and moving the low slung Mercedes convertible to one of the nearby City of Hampton garages in case the predicted storm is worse than expected. In 2003 Hurricane Isabel did a great deal of damage in the area and flooded portions of the area (the photo above is part of downtown Norfolk) and put two feet of water into the boyfriend's home where I now live with him. The house backs up to a tidal creek and the homes across the street front on Hampton Roads harbor itself which is open to storm surging coming in through the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. As a result, we want to be prepared for the worse, but hope that in the worse case we only see the yard and garage flood (we will park my Jeep and his Expedition up the street on high ground as a further precaution). Here's what the Virginian Pilot is saying about our less than lovely weather:

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One of the worst nor’easters in at least the past three years, and possibly within the past decade, is set to hit Hampton Roads over the next few days. Part of this system is the tropical moisture from the remnants of Hurricane Ida, but really, most of the energy is from a strong cold front that is creating a slow-moving coastal low. Because of its slow movement, it will be worse than a stronger storm that might be moving faster.

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Each successive tide gives the storm more time to build up to a level that will run about 3 to 4 feet above normal, which will be about 7 feet above the average low water level. The National Weather Service has issued a flood watch with coastal flood and high wind warnings through Friday. . . . If we get to about 7 feet, it would be similar to the Thanksgiving nor’easter of 2006. Anything higher than that would put the water closer to severe levels of flooding.

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As for the winds, expect them to build today to about 15 to 30 mph with gusts of about 40 mph. Winds could get even stronger tonight and Thursday.