Up here in northeast Massachusetts we didn’t get it so bad – 9 hours of occasional gusts and a few torrential rain squalls, but that’s about it. The lights flickered a few times in the middle of a real brief hurricane-esque squall (very cool!), but other than that it would be hard to tell the difference between Sandy and your typical October-November nor’easter. Still, knowing that back in Arizona it’s just another warm 80-degree days with the palm trees rustling and a warm sun on your back, it was a great weather experience. Not to mention, a storm that will go down in history as a unique meterological event.

Of course, it was a little rougher on the southeast coast of Massachusetts, and rougher still on the islands of Nantucket, Martha’s Vineyard, and Block Island before you got into the real bad stuff on the New England south coast all the way down to New York, New Jersey, and the DelMarVa peninsula where all the flooding took place. There’s little doubt there will be billions of dollars worth of damage caused by the flooding and the heavy snow back into the Appalachians, but it could have been a whole lot worse – the storm seems to have unexpectedly sped up and turned the winds offshore before the second meterological high tide this evening.

Hard to believe with all the gusts and downpours today it’s gotten pretty tranquil outside – just a few tinkles from the neighbors’ wind chimes to lull yours truly to sleep. An exciting day, weather-wise; keep those who now face days of cleaning up water damage – that’s pretty rough. If you can find it in your hearts and wallets please consider donating to any of the various support organizations that will be helping out.