Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Snow Report for Thursday, February 10, 2011.
This video was shot at the Wright Brothers Monument and the Avalon Pier (both in Kill Devil Hills) at 9:00 AM this morning.
The Outer Banks has turned into a winter wonderland. Snow is falling and the wind is blowing. There’s a heavy wind coming out of the north at 20+ mph, and about an inch of the white stuff is on the ground.
No sledding at the Wright Brothers Monument yet, but the kids are out of school today, so I suspect there will be some flying down the hill soon.
No surf today. The fish are still biting, but boats won’t be able to make it out of Oregon Inlet, so the fishing is on hiatus today as well.
The snow is pretty, but I’m ready for spring. Bring on the sunny, warm weather. The good news is the sun will return tomorrow and stay through the weekend, and temps will climb back to the 50′s by the weekend.
Enjoy the snow while it lasts!
Outer Banks - Wright Brother Monument in the Snow - 2.10.11
Outer Banks - Wright Brother Monument in the Snow - 2.10.11
Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Friday, January 14, 2011.
This video was shot in Kill Devil Hills, near the Wright Brothers Monument, at 7:15 AM.
Pretty sunrise this morning, but it’s a chilly day. Bright sun and blue skies, but temps will be in the high 30′s today. Light wind out of the northwest at about 10 mph, so the windchill isn’t too bad. The weekend will warm up a bit.
A small amount of swell is coming through, and the wind may switch to the west early in the afternoon, so there could be some clean, waist high surf coming through later today.
The rock fish are still biting. There are a lot of reports of boats heading out of Oregon Inlet catching their limit. Also hearing reports of tuna being caught by the off-shore fishing charters.
My guess is that just about everyone that comes across the name Kill Devil Hills for the first time does a double take to make sure they read/heard it correctly, and then follows up with something to the effect of “What the heck is Kill Devil Hills?”
No doubt, it is a crazy name…pretty cool in a swashbuckling, pirate kind of way, but crazy none-the-less. So where did this oddity begin?
The Virginia Pilot recently ran a great article trying to get to the bottom of this mystery. It doesn’t seem like there is a great answer, but there is some darn good history.
First of all, let’s get one point straight. The Wright Brothers took off from Kill Devil Hills…not Kitty Hawk. They alerted the world to their success from a telegraph in Kitty Hawk, but the actual flight was in Kill Devil Hills.
One notch in the cool belt for KDH. But I digress.
As for the name. According to a local Outer Banks historian, “Killdevil Hills” first appeared on a map in 1808, and a printed map in 1814 adjusted the name to “Kill Devil Hills.”
Great, we have some inclination of when it appeared, but what the heck does it mean? This is where things get a bit blurry.
The Town of Kill Devil Hills endorses the theory that the name comes from rum-carrying ships that ran aground along the dangerous coastline, i.e. the Graveyard of the Atlantic. The town’s official explanation states that rum from the shipwrecks was taken by locals and hidden in the dunes, and its potency was “strong enough to “kill the devil.” Probably the most believable…especially considering the locals I know. :)
Some other theories are:
A local OBX’er made a deal with the devil and eventually wound up in a deep pit on top of one of the tall dunes.
A bird know as the killdeer once thrived in the area and the nickname “Killdeer Hills” eventually morphed into Kill Devil Hills. That one is not that fun. Where’s the pizzazz? Where’s the swashbuckling?
A theory that sailors use to say that the area was so tough to navigate around that “it was enough to kill the devil.”
I’m sticking with the rum theory. It makes me feel like a pirate when I drive through town.
Another interesting KDH fact…Is it Kill Devil Hill or Kill Devil Hills? You’re all right. It’s both. Kill Devil Hills is the town name, and the largest dune is referred to as Kill Devil Hill.
Some quick KDH stats: Kill Devil Hills is located in Dare County, the town today includes more than 6,000 full-time residents, shops, hotels, restaurants and the Wright Brothers National Memorial, a tourist attraction and monument in the scrubby hills where the first flight occurred.
Good morning. Here’s the Outer Banks Beach, Surf, & Fishing Report for Monday, November 8, 2010.
This video was shot at 9:00 AM in Kill Devil Hills. Beautiful fall day on the Outer Banks. Mid 60′s, bright sun, and not a cloud in the sky. Should be like this for most of the week…lower to mid 60′s and sunny.
However, there is a stiff northwest wind coming in that should stick with us most of the week.
There is a lot of swell coming in, but unfortunately, that stiff wind isn’t cooperating to clean up the waves. The large swell should continue throughout the week, so hopefully it will clean up as the week progresses. We’re still in the waiting period for the Battle of the Banks surf contest, so hopefully we get some great OBX waves soon.
The OBX fishing is still great. Just about as much speckled trout as you can catch from the surf and the pier.
Kitty Hawk Kites and the Wright Brothers National Memorial sponsor the 32st Annual Wright Kite Festival, held July 10-11 at the Wright Brothers National Memorial (mile post Eight) in Kill Devil Hills, NC.
The Wright Kite Festival offers endless amounts of aviation fun. Held Saturday, 10am-2pm, and Sunday, 10am-2pm, the kite festival celebrates the history of aviation with two days of flight.
Large animal shaped single line kites fly above the Wright Brothers Memorial throughout both days. Several other large kites of various shapes and sizes are also displayed.
In addition to large kite displays, members of Kitty Hawk Kites will offer free stunt and power kite lessons throughout Saturday and Sunday. Kite flyers from kite companies, like HQ Kites, and kite flying organizations also attend this festival and offer free flying lessons.
Inside the pavilion, Kitty Hawk Kites offers children’s kite making, beginning at 11AM each day. Individuals and families are encouraged to join the festival by flying their own kites during the event.
The 32nd Annual Wright Kite Festival is free and open to the public, but entrance to the memorial is $4 per adult. Children 16 years of age or younger receive free admission. The Wright Brothers Memorial Park grounds are open daily from 8:00 AM to 7:00 PM and the Visitor Center is open from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM. The memorial is part of the National Park Service and offers a variety of programs and exhibits. Donations to the memorial are welcome.
For more information on the 32nd Annual Wright Kite Festival, or other events held by Kitty Hawk Kites, please contact Nick Barrett, our Events Director, at events@kittyhawk.com.
Flakes started to fall late Friday night, and by early Saturday the Outer Banks was layered in a sheet of white 2-3 inches thick. Unfortunately, the wintery scene did not last too long; the feathery flakes turned to heavy rain throughout the morning, and the white landscape gradually shifted to a wintery beach scene.
Just over a year from 2009′s OBX snow; two years in a row with snow on the Outer Banks. Although the beach blanketed in snow dissipated quickly, the joys of a day filled with a white landscape, snowballs and snowmen, and some sledding will hold us over until the next wintery storm draws far enough south to grace the OBX with a day slowed to nurture the effects of nature.
The First Flight Society’s annual Anniversary Luncheon will be held at 12:30 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn in Kitty Hawk. You may register for the luncheon by sending an email to the First Flight Society at dec17@firstflight.org or by calling the First Flight Society office at 252-441-1903.
In 1903, the Wright Brothers took off on what would be the world’s first airborne flight on the Outer Banks of North Carolina.
By 1908, the brothers had been mastering flight for quite some time, most of which was done in complete privacy. Little did they know that they were being watched on some of their flights. Five big city reporters hid in a nearby patch of woods to watch. In fact it was these reporters that helped make the Wright’s historical moment so well known.
The Wrights had worked previously is complete privacy, so everyone had their speculations on whether or not the brothers actually took to the sky in flight. These reporters helped remove all doubt from the people of the world that the Wright Brothers actually did take flight. Larry Tise, a history professor at East Carolina University, has an upcoming book on the subject and states, “In all the swoop of a single day, the world stopped speculating about the possibilities of flight and watched in awe as it was demonstrated to anyone who could read.” This is a truly amazing story, the day in 1908 truly changed human life for the better.
The Wright Brothers monument is opened year round, feel free to visit anytime to learn more about this amazing feat in aviation.
In 1903, the Wright Brothers took off on what would be the 
