Hurricane In New England

New England’s Killer Hurricane

In 1938, a Category 3 hurricane smashed into New England. It was a complete surprise that left New England shocked. There were many conditions that made this storm so devastating, including weather patterns, lack of observation, and bad forecasters. Firstly, the weather was perfect for a devastating hurricane. The storm initially was headed for Florida, but high winds instead pushed it north, towards New England. While heading north, jetstreams and the tides fed it energy, making the hurricane a cyclone. Off the coast of Long Island, there were two high pressure zones that pushed it to shore. To top it all off, that area had sustained heavy rainfall the past few months, soaking the ground with water and warming the ocean. When the storm hit, the

When the hurricane was headed towards Florida, they warned everybody, like any good forecaster would do. When it swerved north, they called all the ships to harbor. Their error was that they assumed it would go out to sea and die, like all the others. An ocean liner off the coast of Virginia reported extremely high winds, but was ignored. However, a junior forecaster named Carls Peirce thought it would hit the coast. He used data on weather patterns and predicted the storm exactly. He told the senior forecasters, but they would not listen to data and numbers. When the storm hit, it was a complete surprise. There was no time to take cover. In conclusion, there were many conditions that made the hurricane so deadly, including weather, lack of observation, and bad forecasters. The storm was devastating. It attacked with 100 mph winds and 50 ft waves. It caused fires in Boston, flooded many towns in Connecticut and Rhode Island, wrecked 1,000 miles of coastline, and caused 400 million in damage. It killed 682 people, and destroyed 25% of houses. It passed through Long Island, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Vermont, then died in