*** Paul Piorek is editor and publisher of Paul's Local Weather Journal for southwestern Connecticut ... Paul is the on-air meteorologist at WICC 600 AM and 107.3 FM ... Paul is a New York Emmy award winner (2007), five-time Emmy nominee, and four-time winner of the Connecticut Associated Press Broadcasters' Association award for Best TV Weathercast (2006, 2008, 2009, 2012) ... Paul was voted Best Local Television Personality by the readers of Fairfield County Weekly Magazine (2012) ... Paul was inducted into the Housatonic Community College Hall of Fame and received the Distinguished Alumni Award (2012) ... The local weather journal is a two-time winner of the Communicator Award of Distinction (2012 & 2013) ... Paul is currently a full-time teacher of Earth Science and Mathematics in Fairfield ... Follow Paul on Twitter @PaulPiorekWICC ...

Friday, September 21, 2012

Today Marks Anniversary of Great Hurricane of 1938

Today marks the 74th anniversary of a powerful hurricane that killed more than 600 people across the Northeast. The Great New England Hurricane on September 21, 1938, caused 17-foot storm surges along the Connecticut and Rhode Island coastlines. Strong winds and heavy rain destroyed trees through the White Mountains, and flooding in Massachusetts, Vermont, and New Hampshire left $387 million in damage. Take a look at the front page of The Lowell (MA) Sun from Wednesday, September 22, 1938.

1938b

The Eastern part of Connecticut was the hardest hit, since it bore the brunt of the eastern, or stronger, side of the hurricane. Small shoreline towns to the east of New Haven had nearly complete destruction from the water and winds. Believe it or not, to this day, the 1938 hurricane remains the worst natural disaster in Connecticut's history. In the beach towns of Clinton, Westbrook, and Old Saybrook, buildings were found as wreckage across coastal roads.

38d

According to reports, stately homes along Ocean Beach in New London were leveled by the storm surge. The permanently anchored 240-ton lightship at the head of New London Harbor was found on a sand bar two miles away. Inland sections of Connecticut experienced widespread flooding as torrential rains fell on soil already saturated from previous storms. The Connecticut River was forced out of its banks, flooding cities and towns from Hartford to Middletown.

As for the storm's history, it was centered several hundred miles to the southeast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, during the early morning hours of September 21. By mid-morning, the hurricane was centered approximately 100 miles due east of Cape Hatteras, and its forward speed had increased to well over 50 m.p.h. This rapid movement did not give the hurricane a sufficient amount of time to weaken over the cooler waters before it reached Long Island.

The hurricane sped through the Virginia tidewater by late-morning, and by early afternoon the New Jersey coastline and New York City caught the western edge of the hurricane. Weather conditions suddenly began to deteriorate along the southern New England coast as well as on Long Island. The full force of the hurricane started to reach Long Island after 2 o'clock, and the eye made landfall at Bayport in Suffolk County shortly after 3 o'clock.

An hour later, the eye had crossed the Long Island Sound and was making a second landfall just east of New Haven. According to modern analysis, the hurricane attained Category 3 intensity at both landfalls. The maximum sustained winds were between 120 and 125 miles an hour. After crossing LongIsland Sound, the hurricane sped inland.

The eye moved into western Massachusetts by 5 o'clock and, one hour later, the hurricane reached Vermont. Both Westfield, Massachusetts, and Dorset, Vermont, reported calm conditions and partial clearing during the passage of the eye. When the hurricane continued into northern Vermont, it began to lose its tropical characteristics.

38c

Twenty-eight years later, another slow-moving storm brought gale-force winds and three inches of rain to southwestern Connecticut on Wednesday, September 21, 1966. Today's weather, however, will be picture-perfect. It will be mostly sunny and pleasant with a high temperature of 70 degrees or better on the last full day of Summer. Fall officially arrives tomorrow morning at 10:49 EDT with the Autumnal Equinox.

Paul