Written by the TreasureGuide for the exclusive use of the Treasure Beaches Report.
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| Windyty.com |
In the above illustration you can see the current Nor'easter and the rest of the Atlantic. The Nor'easter looks on the illustration very much like a hurricane but there are differences.
You might wonder why the storm isn't shown on the National Hurricane Center map. The NHC map only shows tropical weather. I'll explain more of that below.
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| National Hurricane Center Map Showing Remnants of Fay and Tropical Storm Gonzalo. Source: NHC.noaa.gov |
Nor’easters form from mid-latitude frontal systems, with cold and warm air masses interacting. Their energy source is baroclinic instability (cold and warm air masses interacting), not warm ocean water.
Tropical systems must have a warm core, organized convection, and a closed low‑level circulation. Nor’easters typically have a cold core and asymmetric structure.The strongest winds of a hurricane are near the center, while the strongest winds of a northeaster are out in bands. Hurricane winds can get much stronger, but northeasters can hang around longer.
So, Nor'easters and hurricanes or tropical storms are different, but both can cause a lot wind, erosion and damage. Nor'easters can hang around and cause damage over a long period of time, like the legendary Thanksgiving Storm of 1984 that I've written about several times.
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| Fort Pierce South Beach Cam - South View Zoom. From Surfguru.com. |
Along the Treasure Coast this morning, it looks pretty much like yesterday. It seemed like there were some bigger swells coming in occasionally, but the water was still hitting the back dunes in places.
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| Wabasso Beach Cam - South Zoom View Saturday Morning. |
There were some very little cuts there, but they are gone now. They got washed over.
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| Jensen Beach Cam Friday Morning. |
I didn't see any cuts on the beach cams this morning. Nothing at Jensen.
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| Bathtub Beach Web Cam Friday Morning. |
Bathtub Beach was washed over this morning. You can see the water all the way back to the dunes.
Along with the high surf, the day's tides were well over three feet.
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| Surf Chart from Surfguru.com. |
As you can see the surf will be decreasing now, getting back down to one or two feet by Tuesday.
I'd say there are definitely some beaches worth checking this morning. Check along the foot of dunes that got washed and also some of the firmer slopes that might have moved back.
Good hunting,
Treasureguide@comcast.net