Weather And The Bay: Part IV

Weather And The Bay: Part IV

How Our Weather Affects Narragansett Bay

As we’ve seen in past weeks, there’s little doubt that our weather and Narragansett Bay are intimately connected. Now that we’ve taken a look at how Narragansett Bay can modify our weather, let’s take a look at the reverse. How our weather can affect the Bay.

It’s pretty obvious that wind can affect the Bay in a major way. It’s a far different looking body of water on a clear, windless morning as compared to the roiling, churning angry waters seen during a major storm or hurricane. Since so many of us either live near, work on or play on the Bay, those winds, especially from storms large or small, can create dangerous and at times life-changing situations. Even a building afternoon sea breeze on an otherwise tranquil day can turn hazardous for recreational boaters and quahoggers. Of course, that rough, gusty wind may be just what the doctor ordered for sailors and wind surfers. Long term the wind, waves and tide can and do change the shoreline eroding here and adding there … an ongoing process … year after year … decade upon decade … recreating the ever-changing shoreline. Of course, major storms like northeasters, tropical storms and hurricanes, can make major changes overnight especially when they occur with unusually high tides. Just ask those who remember the major flooding during the Hurricane of 1938 or Carol in 1954. And of course these shoreline changes can have far reaching effects as they may change the entire ecosystem in the marshes, inlets and estuaries. Gusty thunderstorms might not create long-term consequences but certainly could have a major adverse affect on what started out to be a quiet afternoon of boating, fishing or sailing on the Bay.

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Precipitation also can have a major influence on the Bay. We are all too familiar with the problems created by heavy rains and runoff both short and long term. Heavy rainstorms usually bring a round of shellfish bed closings and beach closings during the summer. Too little rain during major dry spells can also cause problems for fish and wildlife around the Bay.

Temperatures either harshly cold or hot create different sets of problems for the Bay waters. Severely cold winters have been known to freeze the Bay over either partially in harbors or inlets or on rare occasions totally. During the hot summer the water can warm to 80 degrees or more creating changes in salinity, dissolved oxygen and other biological balances that can lead to algae blooms, fish kills and other environmental upsets.