Remnants of Isaac on Pensacola Beach

The pier on Pensacola Beach on 8/29/12.

I went back to Pensacola Beach this morning to see the remnants of Isaac. The winds were still gale force and the sky dark with storm clouds. The pier was open, so I walked all the way to the end and watched in awe as waves broke and splashed the end of the pier. A few other hardy souls were out there taking pictures.








On the pier facing south to the stormy Gulf.

I talked to an assortment of people. Some were locals and others tourists. All were as impressed by the wind and waves. We're so used to Pensacola Beach having flat turquoise water, so this churning dark cauldron is a definite oddity.

Awesome waves at the end of the pier.

Although I took dozens of digital photos, none of them really convey the size and power of the surf pounding the beach and pier.

Josh from PensacolaSurf.com

On the pier I talked to a young surfer (hey, everyone seems young to me these days) named Josh who was taking pics for his website: PensacolaSurf.com

Josh was kind enough to let me include his pic and the link to his website on my post. Be sure to check out Josh's website for the awesome pics and movies that he took today of the wild surf on Pensacola Beach.

I convinced Josh to take of few pics of me with my camera. Unfortunately, with my hair standing on end, I looked like a wild woman. Nope, I won't be sharing those pics here.






The west end of Pensacola Beach.

I drove to the west end of Pensacola Beach where the sea oats waved in the wind. The surf pounded all the way up to the line of sand dunes. Only a few people were there taking photos.

The parking lot at the west end was still half underwater. Happy seagulls waded through their new-found pond.







A view of the east end of Pensacola Beach.

Then I drove to the east end of Pensacola Beach. The wind seemed to be stronger there and was blowing foam off the surf.

A handful of people were walking on the east end of the beach.  One woman was doing a dance step along the edge of the surf.

Prayers are needed for those harmed by Hurricane Isaac.

Over the last several days I've logged a lot of hours watching Tropical Storm then Hurricane Isaac as it pummeled the Gulf Coast. Louisiana is currently under a frontal assault by the storm. Prayers need to be said for those still facing the brunt of the storm. The Mississippi and Alabama Gulf Coast is still being pounded by heavy surf, driving rains and high winds. The Florida Panhandle got off easy in this storm with just heavy surf and gale force winds.

I think storms are awesome, but I have to agree that it's time for Isaac to leave the Gulf Coast.

Hurricane Isaac Bypasses Pensacola Beach

Pensacola Beach on 8/28/12.

I went to Pensacola Beach earlier this afternoon to take photos of Hurricane Isaac as it bypassed our beach. I drove over the one mile bridge in pounding rain and gale force winds. The gusts were so strong it felt like my Jeep would be blown over the side. Definitely a breath-taking moment.

 As I pulled into the parking lot on the main beach, the rain stopped abruptly and the sun broke through the clouds. What an awesome sight!




Watching as Hurricane Isaac bypasses Pensacola Beach.

To the east the beach was nearly deserted except for a few hardy souls at the edge of the surf. The clouds in that direction were dark and mean looking. A sure sign that Hurricane Isaac was out there somewhere.

Some gusts of wind were almost strong enough to knock you off your feet. A couple times I came close to losing my balance.





A weather news crew reporting on Isaac.

To the west, facing the pier, a news crew filmed while the sun temporarily broke through the clouds.


I walked along the beach picking up treasures, colorful plastic sand shovels and molds for building sandcastles. I had an armload of the abandoned sand toys in no time. It seemed odd that children had left them on the beach, half-buried in the sand, waiting for me to pick them up.

Waves breaking over the end of the pier.

The waves were huge by Pensacola Beach standards, with some actually breaking over the end of the pier. I snapped several photos, hoping I would get a few good ones.



Churning surf under the pier.

I walked under the pier and watched in awe as waves broke underneath. I would have stayed there longer, but I was getting pelted with stinging wet sand. I said something to a person standing nearby and ended up with gritty sand in my teeth.

Awesome waves at the west end of Pensacola Beach.

I got back into my Jeep and drove to the west end of the beach where the churning surf had practically swallowed up all the sand. It was an awesome sight watching the huge breaking waves where the water is normally almost flat as a pancake.

My hair and glasses were soon coated with salt spray. I'd witnessed the might of Hurricane Isaac and was thankful the full force of the storm had decided to bypass Pensacola Beach.

Pensacola Beach and Tropical Storm Debby

Tropical Storm Debby, Pensacola Beach, June 24th

Most of my posts have to do with books, but this one is all about Pensacola Beach and Tropical Storm Debby. For several days now we've been watching Debby forming in the Gulf of Mexico. Would the storm actually reach tropical storm force? Well, yesterday it finally became the named Tropical Storm Debby. Now we're all waiting to see if it becomes Hurricane Debby.

Like many others living along the Gulf Coast, my TV is tuned to The Weather Channel. Those spaghetti lines, or spider lines, depicting the possible path of Debby holds us enthrall.

It's a love/hate thing. Storms are exciting and awesome, but also destructive. So on the one hand we'd love to see the mighty power of a hurricane and yet we want to avoid all the bad, dangerous things that come with a storm of that magnitude.

I woke up this morning to a phone call from my mother, who lives in the Atlanta area of Georgia. She wanted to make sure I knew that The Weather Channel's Jim Cantore was at Pensacola Beach this morning. Well, I'd heard last night that Jim had arrived and was already reporting on the storm. For those in "the know" about bad weather, Jim Cantore gravitates to the bad stuff to report on the worst of the weather. So having Jim arrive on our beach, Pensacola Beach, with a tropical storm and possible hurricane heading our way, well, that's not a good sign.


Let me back up to yesterday. It was a sunny, hot, humid 90 degrees. At midnight it was still 90 degrees. When I went outside with my dogs, Shani and Dude, at close to midnight, the air was fragrant with the smell of salt spray and flowers. The air was beginning to stir and there was the prickly feel of an impending storm.

Watching Tropical Storm Debby from the Dock

Now flash forward to this morning. The sky was painted in various shades of gray depending on whether you gazed north, south, east or west. Clouds raced past at breakneck speed, some clouds heading NW and others SW. These are the feeder bands for Debby which is slowly building out in the Gulf.

After a late breakfast, my husband and I drove to the beach, only a couple miles from our house. Just a hop, skip and a jump over the bridge and we were there facing the building force of this Hurricane Season's first Gulf storm.

I must say the waves were awesome. Now by southern California standards, where I grew up and learned to surf, these waves are nothing. But considering Pensacola Beach rarely has waves more than a couple feet in height, these are awesome waves for this beach.

Now, my surfing days ended decades ago, but I still love watching the waves. There should have been surfers out there, but a Red Flag Warning was posted and no one, not even surfers, were allowed out there. I guess the lifeguards didn't want to be forced to make any rescues today.

There were a fair number of lookiloos out on the beach. Some, like me, ventured to the edge of the surf. Most stood way back and just watched. This being a Sunday and all, it was obvious that many locals left church and drove straight to the beach. Even for people who have lived here all their lives, and seen many a tropical storm and hurricane, seeing the beach under storm conditions is a big draw.

We looked for Jim Cantore, but didn't find him anywhere. I imagine he was taking a break when we were walking the beach. Too bad, because I would have liked to meet him. Maybe tomorrow if he's still here? On the other hand, if Jim stays at our beach then that may not be a good omen.

I took a few dozen photos of the beach. In person, the surf was choppy and awesome. Unfortunately, the pictures I took don't do it justice. My husband took some clips with his movie camera, so I'm hoping he got some good footage to post on youtube.



Tropical Storm Debby, west end of Pensacola Beach.

We'll probably venture back to the beach tomorrow to take some more pictures, assuming Debby increases in force and is still close by. She'll most likely be a hurricane by then. Like I said, I'm awed by the power of a hurricane, but don't really want it to make landfall anywhere. I'm sure we can use the rain all around the Gulf Coast, well, maybe not in Pensacola, but so far no rain for our part of the Florida Panhandle. 

Stormy greetings from Pensacola Beach.

In reality, it's too bad we can't send the tropical rains to Colorado, Arizona and New Mexico to put out their fires. But nature doesn't work that way. One part of our country burns while another part get deluged with rains and another part gets torn apart by winds. Go figure.

As I'm writing this, The Weather Channel just reported that the projected landfall is Apalachicola, Florida, to the east of us. Debby is supposedly only moving at 6 mph, so still a long way out.