Cold front brings high winds, rain

Published 10:17 pm Wednesday, January 30, 2013

CHOPPY: Strong winds blowing out of the west at sunset Wednesday make the Pamlico River anything but calm. As a cold front moves through the region today, expect gusts up to 30 mph. Ryan Webb | Daily News

“Blow ye winds in morning, blow ye winds, high-ho. Clear away your running gear, and blow ye winds, high-ho.”
Those words from an old sea shanty may be appropriate today as winds from 15 to 21 mph are expected from the west, with gusts up to 33 mph forecast. A sharp cold front from from the west is pushing the high winds ahead of it. The cold front is brining rain with it.
The gusts are capable of downing tree limbs and power lines.
Around the area, preparations were made as the cold front approached Wednesday.
“As per usual, we take down the flags. We secure any of the trash cans that may be blowing away. Depending on where the wind is coming from, we are either loosening or tightening dock lines,” said Teresa Hamilton, who oversees the city’s docks, on Wednesday afternoon. “We’ll make sure everything else is secure. If we’ve got something flapping, we’ll fix it before it flaps off.”
“Disasters can happen anytime, it’s important that everyone has a plan,” said Victoria Kling, response manager, for the Eastern N.C. Region of the American Red Cross. “Simple steps such as talking with your family about what to do if there is an emergency and building a preparedness kit can offer peace of mind when faced with emergency situations.”
North Carolina and local emergency management officials are reminding North Carolinians to stay tuned to local media and NOAA weather radios today as the front moves across the state.
“Our emergency managers at the state and local level have been working with meteorologists and are closely monitoring the weather,” said Department of Public Safety Secretary Kieran Shanahan. “They are an experienced team and ready to respond to any emergencies.”
Meteorologists advise that residents may see damaging wind gusts without lightning and thunder.

About Mike Voss

Mike Voss is the contributing editor at the Washington Daily News. He has a daughter and four grandchildren. Except for nearly six years he worked at the Free Lance-Star in Fredericksburg, Va., in the early to mid-1990s, he has been at the Daily News since April 1986.
Journalism awards:
• Pulitzer Prize for Meritorious Public Service, 1990.
• Society of Professional Journalists: Sigma Delta Chi Award, Bronze Medallion.
• Associated Press Managing Editors’ Public Service Award.
• Investigative Reporters & Editors’ Award.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Public Service Award, 1989.
• North Carolina Press Association, Second Place, Investigative Reporting, 1990.
All those were for the articles he and Betty Gray wrote about the city’s contaminated water system in 1989-1990.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Investigative Reporting, 1991.
• North Carolina Press Association, Third Place, General News Reporting, 2005.
• North Carolina Press Association, Second Place, Lighter Columns, 2006.
Recently learned he will receive another award.
• North Carolina Press Association, First Place, Lighter Columns, 2010.
4. Lectured at or served on seminar panels at journalism schools at UNC-Chapel Hill, University of Maryland, Columbia University, Mary Washington University and Francis Marion University.

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