New England Hurricane

The "Long Island Express"or the New England hurricane, was first detected over the tropical Atlantic on September 13, although it may have formed a few days earlier. Moving generally west-northwestward, it passed to the north of Puerto Rico on the 18th and 19th, likely as a category 5 hurricane. It turned northward on September 20 and by the morning of the 21st it was 100 to 150 miles east of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. At that point, the hurricane accelerated to a forward motion of 60 to 70 mph, making landfall over Long Island and Connecticut that afternoon as a Category 3 hurricane. The storm became extratropical after landfall and dissipated over southeastern Canada on September 22.

This hurricane struck with little warning and was responsible for 600 deaths and $308 million in damage in the United States.

Blue Hill Observatory, Massachusetts measured sustained winds of 121 mph with gusts to 183 mph (likely influenced by terrain). A U.S. Coast Guard station on Long Island measured a minimum pressure of 27.94 in. Storm surges of 10 to 12 ft inundated portions of the coast from Long Island and Connecticut eastward to southeastern Massachusetts, with the most notable surges in Narragansett Bay and Buzzards Bay. Heavy rains before and during the hurricane produced river flooding, most notably along the Connecticut River.

One must keep in mind that back in 1938 there were no weather satellites, no weather radar, and no offshore weather buoys. The storm was tracked as it moved west from Africa and toward the Bahamas Islands. The U.S. Weather Bureau (now called National Weather Service) knew it was a powerful storm as it had reached category 5 strength on September 19 but it was believed that this hurricane would curve out to sea before reaching the Northeast. The Bureau tracked the storm on the 21st as it was off the coast of Norfolk, V.A., now a category 3 storm.

A large area of high pressure was located over the Atlantic Ocean just east of the coast which kept the storm close to the coast and moving northeastward. Charlie Pierce, a young research forecaster for the Bureau concluded that the storm would not continue to move northeast and curve out to sea but would instead track due north. He was overruled by more senior meteorologists and the official forecast was for cloudy skies and gusty conditions - but no hurricane (Francis, 1998). Because the official forecast was not cause for alarm, even as the winds picked up speed and the waves rolled in, nobody realized that a catastrophe was only a few hours away.

Instead of recurving out to sea, the storm moved due north and accelerated in forward speed to 70 mph. In the history of hurricanes, this is the fastest known forward speed recorded. The incredible forward speed of the storm caused wind speeds on the eastern side of the hurricane to be extremely fast. Because hurricane winds rotate counter-clockwise, the winds to the east of the eye are moving from south to north. Because the hurricane was also moving in the same direction, the forward speed added to the already powerful winds. Eastern Long Island and New England would later be hit with wind speeds that exceeded 180 mph!

Uproar

Waves striking seawall give appearance of geysers erupting. Photo was taken in 1938 off of the New England coast.

Image Courtesy of NOAA Photo Library

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