Hurricane Bill is now a Tropical Storm in the North Atlantic, but it did not exit the North American continent without leaving a tragic mark. As Bill was centered hundreds of miles to the north, a Florida man died on Saturday after swimming in the heavy surf off New Smyrna Beach. Then, at least one person was killed and over a dozen others injured yesterday in Acadia National Park in Maine, where thousands had gathered at the park's Thunder Hole attraction to observe giant waves pounding against the rugged shore. A group of roughly 20 people were overcome by a "rogue" wave, and three people were swept into the water requiring rescue by the U.S. Coastguard. A seven-year-old girl was killed and several others were seriously injured. A wave monitoring gauge at Mount Desert Island recorded seas at 17 feet yesterday, but given that it is 40 miles from the location of the incident there is no official word on the size of the responsible wave. Bill exited the region early this morning, leaving thousands without power in Novia Scotia.

 

The tropics look to remain mostly quiet for a while. An area of interest currently exists east of the Leeward islands but is very disorganized, so it does not appear likely that this will evolve into a larger system.