Bye, Bertha

When you live on an island in a hurricane-prone area, you keep a slightly more focused eye on what the weather is doing off the coast of Africa and in the Caribbean. Those are two of the spots where storms often start.

Recently, we were watching Tropical Storm - then Hurricane - Bertha. She looked mean (winds were 115 mph - category 3 - at their highest), and well organized. The satellite view yesterday looked like a textbook example picture of a hurricane. But she was far off, so we weren't too worried.

And then she simmered down (winds are now at 80 mph - category 1), and lost her classic-hurricane structure. It looks like she will blow away toward the north, staying well out to sea. Phew.

I completely missed whatever the "A" storm was this year (there must have been a named system, or we wouldn't be on Bertha now). But it's definitely a good thing when we don't hear about one.

We're in the clear for now. But I'll still "keep a weather eye on the horizon", just in case.