HALLIE EPHRON: With all the bad weather news we’ve had this season, the forecast for Hurricane Lee looked like that last thing we needed.
I moved my car into the garage. Filled the tub with water. Stocked up on potato chips. Assembled candles and batteries and flashlights. Did some serious digging-out around one of my basement windows that has been leaking. Lay the garden chairs on their sides.
Then closed the windows and waited.
And waited.
Saturday morning when we were supposed to be inundated and blown away, the temperature was 60 degrees, it was drizzling out, and winds were blowing from the N/NW (Yay! Falling trees will miss the house) at a mere 15 mph.
I could plan a tomorrow-morning walk, breathe a sigh of relief, and pay attention to more benign seasonal changes like migrating birds and turning foliage (we’re supposed to have a brilliant year because of all the rain we’ve had – time to go to Vermont and Maine!)
Are you in “Phew!” mode with the weather in your neighborhood, or screaming “Aggggh, here we go again.”
HANK PHILLIPPI RYAN: First, I did nothing. Okay, I plugged in every laptop and phone.
I have no idea about the weather, and seriously, I think (based on absolutely no real knowledge except years of experience in the world) that the change in how the climate is behaving has also changed the way meteorologists should forecast the weather—but I don't think anyone has changed the “weather reporting” rules so it's even more difficult now to predict.
Again, I know nothing real, it just seems that the predictability is far less accurate than it used to be.
I remember once reading that they’d come up with a computer that could forecast, perfectly, exactly, what the weather would be. Problem was, it was so complicated that the computer didn’t finish the program until after the weather had already happened.
We just had new shrubs plants (long story) so I was kinda hoping it would rain. It kinda did.
DEBORAH CROMBIE: Hallie, I'm just glad it was anticlimactic for you. We joke that we have a rain shield around our house. Lovely, so desperately needed (two months with NO rain, not even a sprinkle, and triple digit temps…) rain was predicted all last week for our area, 80 or 90% chance every day.
But everything moved north or south of us, as usual, and only one day did we get a gentle quarter inch.
So you can put me in the "disappointed again" category.
LUCY BURDETTE: Never, never, never disappointed when a big weather event fizzles. We’ve been hit in two places, both CT and Florida, plus seen a million disasters in other areas of the country.
So for me, it’s only phew! (Plus I can’t help thinking it’s bad luck to gloat…plus we are only just now getting to the peak season.)
The weather people said this one would be hard to predict and it was. We took a wait and see–did not move all the outside furniture in, but we were poised.
JENN McKINLAY: At the time I’m writing this, our summer house in Nova Scotia is just south of the brunt of Hurricane Lee. Lots of rain and wind but I think it will be okay. Phew!
As for our home in the desert, we’ll take all the rain. All of it. It has been the longest, hottest summer ever and I am over it.
RHYS BOWEN: since I was scheduled to fly into New England on Monday I was watching the weather forecast anxiously.
Big sigh of relief.
Our summer in California has been remarkably cool, so no complaints from me.
JULIA SPENCER-FLEMING: I did the complete prep as well, Hallie, because my town had a Tropical Storm Warning. Everything light off the porch, recyclable and trash can and lawnmower in the barn, food and water and everything charged up. I even put down the piddle pads, because I didn’t want my Shih Tzus to have to go out if it was dangerous! (They’re only about 16 pounds each; I could picture them blowing away like Toto.)
Honestly, I am beginning to believe the more you prepare for five days without power, the less likely it is to happen.
We did get some dramatic winds and lots of leaves down, but it cleared up so much by noon, my neighbor was out mowing his lawn!
By the way, the Maine Emergency management Agency had the best explainer I’ve ever seen for those of us struggling to remember the difference between Watch and Warning:
