1938 september 22

On the morning of September 23, 1938, the headline for the Westerly Sun
told the story:

"Misquamicut Wiped Out; Napatree Point Gone; 50 Dead; Scores
Missing"

A catagory 5 hurricane had hit New England resulting in a final death count of 600

http://weather.unisys.com/hurricane/atlantic/1938/

Date: 10-22 SEP 1938
Hurricane #4
ADV LAT   LON       TIME     WIND PR STAT
   1 14.20 -21.50   09/10/06Z   35               - TROPICAL STORM
   2 14.40 -23.80   09/10/12Z   35               - TROPICAL STORM
   3 14.60 -25.00   09/10/18Z   35               - TROPICAL STORM
   4 14.80 -26.20   09/11/00Z   35               - TROPICAL STORM
   5 14.90 -27.40   09/11/06Z   35               - TROPICAL STORM
   6 15.00 -28.50   09/11/12Z   35               - TROPICAL STORM
   7 15.20 -29.70   09/11/18Z   35               - TROPICAL STORM
   8 15.30 -31.00   09/12/00Z   40               - TROPICAL STORM
   9 15.40 -32.40   09/12/06Z   40               - TROPICAL STORM
10 15.50 -33.70   09/12/12Z   40               - TROPICAL STORM
11 15.60 -34.80   09/12/18Z   40               - TROPICAL STORM
12 15.70 -35.80   09/13/00Z   40               - TROPICAL STORM
13 15.80 -37.10   09/13/06Z   45               - TROPICAL STORM
15 16.10 -39.40   09/13/18Z   50               - TROPICAL STORM
16 16.20 -40.60   09/14/00Z   50               - TROPICAL STORM
17 16.40 -41.90   09/14/06Z   55               - TROPICAL STORM
18 16.70 -43.20   09/14/12Z   55               - TROPICAL STORM
19 16.90 -44.50   09/14/18Z   60               - TROPICAL STORM
20 17.20 -45.70   09/15/00Z   65               - HURRICANE-1
21 17.40 -46.80   09/15/06Z   70               - HURRICANE-1
22 17.60 -47.80   09/15/12Z   75               - HURRICANE-1
23 17.90 -49.00   09/15/18Z   80               - HURRICANE-1
24 18.30 -50.20   09/16/00Z   80               - HURRICANE-1
25 18.60 -51.60   09/16/06Z   85               - HURRICANE-2
26 18.90 -53.00   09/16/12Z   85               - HURRICANE-2
27 19.20 -54.00   09/16/18Z   90               - HURRICANE-2
28 19.40 -55.00   09/17/00Z   95               - HURRICANE-2
29 19.70 -56.30   09/17/06Z 100              - HURRICANE-3
30 20.00 -57.50   09/17/12Z 105              - HURRICANE-3
31 20.20 -58.60   09/17/18Z 115              - HURRICANE-4
32 20.40 -59.60   09/18/00Z 120              - HURRICANE-4
33 20.70 -60.70   09/18/06Z 125              - HURRICANE-4
34 21.00 -62.00   09/18/12Z 125              - HURRICANE-4
35 21.30 -63.60   09/18/18Z 130              - HURRICANE-4
36 21.70 -65.60   09/19/00Z 130              - HURRICANE-4
37 22.30 -67.80   09/19/06Z 135              - HURRICANE-5
38 23.20 -70.00   09/19/12Z 135              - HURRICANE-5
39 24.10 -71.60   09/19/18Z 140              - HURRICANE-5
40 25.00 -72.70   09/20/00Z 140              - HURRICANE-5
41 25.90 -73.60   09/20/06Z 140              - HURRICANE-5
42 26.70 -74.30   09/20/12Z 135              - HURRICANE-5
43 28.00 -74.80   09/20/18Z 130              - HURRICANE-4
44 29.80 -74.90   09/21/00Z 120              - HURRICANE-4
45 32.20 -74.40   09/21/06Z 110              - HURRICANE-3
46 35.20 -73.10   09/21/12Z 100   938     - HURRICANE-3
47 39.00 -73.00   09/21/18Z   85    940     - EXTRATROPICAL STORM-1
48 43.40 -73.10   09/22/00Z   70    967     - EXTRATROPICAL STORM-1
49 45.30 -73.50   09/22/06Z   45    988     - EXTRATROPICAL STORM
50 47.30 -77.00   09/22/12Z   35    987     - EXTRATROPICAL STORM
51 45.40 -79.10   09/22/18Z   35               - EXTRATROPICAL STORM

Winds in knots, pressure in millibars, category is based on Saffir-Simpson scale.

THE GREAT NEW ENGLAND HURRICANE of 1938
(CAT 3 - September 21)

The Great New England Hurricane of 1938 was one of the most destructive and powerful storms ever to strike southern New England. This system developed in the far eastern Atlantic, near the Cape Verde Islands on September 4. It made a twelve day journey across the Atlantic and up the eastern seaboard before crashing ashore on September 21 at Suffolk County, Long Island, then into Milford, Connecticut. The eye of the hurricane was observed in New Haven, Connecticut, 10 miles east of Milford. The center made landfall at the time of astronomical high tide, moving north at 60 mph. Unlike most storms, the hurricane did not weaken on its way toward southern New England, due to its rapid forward speed and its track. This kept the center of the storm over
the warm waters of the Gulf Stream.

Sustained hurricane force winds occurred throughout most of southern New England. The strongest winds ever recorded in the region occurred at the Blue Hill Observatory with sustained winds of 121 mph and a peak gust of 1 86~mph. Sustained winds of 91 mph with a gust to 121 mph was reported on Block Island. Providence, Rhode Island recorded sustained winds of 100 mph with a gust to 125 mph. Extensive damage occurred to roofs, trees and crops. Widespread power outages occurred, which in some areas lasted several weeks. In Connecticut, downed power lines resulted in catastrophic fires to sections of New London and Mystic. The lowest pressure at the time of landfall occurred on the south side of Long Island, at Bellport, where a reading of 27.94 inches was recorded. Other low pressures included 28.00 inches in Middletown, Connecticut and 28.04 inches in Hartford, Connecticut. The hurricane produced storm tides of 14 to 18 feet across most of the Connecticut coast, with 18 to 25 foot tides from New London east to Cape Cod. The destructive power of the storm surge was felt throughout the coastal
community. Narragansett Bay took the worst hit, where a storm surge of 12 to 15 feet destroyed most coastal homes, marinas and yacht clubs. Downtown Providence, Rhode Island was submerged under a storm tide of nearly 20 feet. Sections of Falmouth and New Bedford, Massachusetts were submerged under as much as 8 feet of water. All three locations had very rapid tides increased within 1.5 hours of the highest water mark.

Rainfall from this hurricane resulted in severe river flooding across sections of Massachusetts and Connecticut. Three to six inches fell across much of western Massachusetts and all but extreme eastern Connecticut. Considerably less rain occurred to the east across Rhode Island and the remainder of Massachusetts. The rainfall from the hurricane added to the amounts that had occurred with a frontal system several days before the hurricane struck. The combined effects from the frontal system and the hurricane produced rainfall of 10 to 17 inches across
most of the Connecticut River Valley. This resulted in some of the worst flooding ever recorded in this area. Roadways were washed away along with sections of the New York, New Haven, and Hartford Railroad lines. The Connecticut River, in Hartford reached a level of 35.4 feet, which was 19.4 feet above flood stage. Further upstream, in the vicinity of Springfield, Massachusetts, the river rose to 6 to 10 feet above flood stage, causing significant damage. A total of 8900 homes, cottages and buildings were destroyed, and over 15000 were damaged by the hurricane. The marine community was devastated. Over 2,600 boats were destroyed, and over 3,300 damaged. Entire fleets were lost in marines and yacht clubs along Narragansett Bay. The hurricane was responsible for 564 deaths and at least 1700 injuries in southern New England. Damage to the fishing fleets in southern New England was catastrophic. A total of 2,605 vessels were destroyed, with 3,369 damaged.

Summary

Widespread inland flooding, high winds inland, with severe coastal flooding.

PUBLIC IMPACT:

Deaths: 564 Injured: >1700

BOATING IMPACT:

Destroyed: 2,600 Damaged: 3,300

HOMES/BUILDINGS

Destroyed: 8900 Damaged: > 15,000

CATASTROPHIC FIRES TOUCHED OFF BY POWERLINES IN CONNECTICUT!

This information was taken from SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND TROPICAL STORMS
AND HURRICANES, A Ninety-eight Year Summary
1909-1997, by David R. Vallee and Michael R. Dion, National Weather Service, Taunton,
MA.