Milford, Connecticut, USA
1938 - THE GREAT LONG ISLAND/NEW ENGLAND HURRICANE OF 1938

On September 21st, a full hurricane of unknown force was churning northward in the waters off Cape Hatteras, North Carolina. It was expected to follow a normal path and gradually curve northeast away from land, and was thought to be moving at a normal speed. “Instead,” wrote David Ludlum, “it followed a congenial atmospheric trough of low pressure and accelerated from a normal 30 to 40 m.p.h. rate to a final dash toward land at a pace in excess of 60 m.p.h.” At 3 p.m. local time, this major hurricane crossed Bellport, Long Island, New York (where a barometric pressure of 27.94 inches was recorded), then moved out over Long Island Sound before making a second landfall near Milford, Connecticut. The storm then tracked to the west of New Haven and up the Connecticut Valley through Massachusetts and Vermont. Blue Hill, Massachusetts, had wind gusts to 186 m.p.h. Accompanying its passage was a massive forest blowdown, widespread floods, extreme coastal destruction, and a record tide that inundated Providence, Rhode Island. William A Cawley, who documented the storm, noted that along the beaches of Rhode Island, “the series of waves, each higher than the previous one, were lashed into a seething fury to the height of 30 feet.” There were up to 650 fatalities, and damage was estimated near $400 million.

Top ELEVEN Most Memorable Weather Events
Farmers' Almanac
www.farmersalmanac.com/ weather/ 2007/ 12/ 21/ top-eleven-most-memorable-weather-events/



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