Tropical, Unsettled Summers & Hurricane Years

[Joe]

I've always heard that summers with unsettled weather and tropical characteristics were often hurricane years.
This summer seems to have been very tropical and unesettled.

[Jenn]

http://www.erh.noaa.gov/nerfc/historical/aug1955.htm


with the daily t-storms and heavy downpours we have been getting these past few weeks and peak hurricane season I wonder if history could repeat itself in a big way...

[Crafty Angler]

Good observation, Joe - I just asked my wife the other day if it didn't strike her that we've had an unusually high incidence of violent thunderstorms this year.

It's got me wondering, too

[Adam_777]

Did I hear the end of the world due to global warming ?

[Nebe]

we're all gonna die.

[Striperknight]

Originally Posted by Nebe

we're all gonna die.

Lets try to keep a positive attitude. No panic please.

[Crafty Angler]

Originally Posted by Nebe

we're all gonna die.

Geez, Nebe, sorry to hear of your impending demise - I guess Soco would have to be pretty high on my list of good places NOT to be in a good blow if you know your history.

Over here at least I know my old house made it thru the '38 because it was built in 1840 and the framing is unusually stout, dimensional 4x12 rafters and joists, etc. I also heard all the first hand reports from my mom who went thru it in this house as a teenager - people rowing past our house on Thames St., stranded people trapped on the roof of the King's Park bathhouses at the height of the storm and being rescued one at a time by a man in a small rowboat and people picking lobsters from the seaweed washed up on Washington Square after the tidal waves subsided, among other things. Pretty wild stuff. I'm sorta kidding you but then sorta not, always be prepared. Statistically speaking, we are way past due.

Don't know if you've ever seen "The Wake of '38" on PBS 36. They always show it on the anniversay of the hurricane which is September 21st. If you haven't seen it PM me, I have it on tape and I'll loan it to you. The documentary was written and produced by a college professor of mine who became a friend and mentor of sorts in American studies. It's excellent.

I also have an original copy of the ProJo printed on Sept. 22, 1938 (the day after the hurricane hit) in my collection that is completely intact and it's a trip reading the actual newspaper reports of the day. The ProJo printing presses in Providence were flooded and that newspaper was actually printed in Boston and then shipped back to Providence by train the same day for distribution. If you haven't guessed, I also collect '38 Hurricane stuff - pictures, articles, books etc.


I was here for Carol in '54 and although I was only 5 years old at the time my memories of it are vivid, like going around to see the aftermath with my dad and holding on to his hand for all I was worth.

I guess what I'm saying is if we do get hit with a Category 1 or 2 storm, we're gonna be in some deep poop. There are very few people around anymore who know what a very bad storm is like. Just plan ahead, 'cause it won't be a party

[Nebe]

impending doom is near.

[Crafty Angler]

Repent, Nebe, repent!

[Joe]

It rained for three days prior to the 38' Hurricane - made the trees pop out of the ground like they had been greased. Crafty - ever read the book "A Wind To Shake The World?"

[Crafty Angler]

Originally Posted by Joe

It rained for three days prior to the 38' Hurricane - made the trees pop out of the ground like they had been greased. Crafty - ever read the book "A Wind To Shake The World?"

Yes I have, Joe, but only parts of it. I have a copy on my bookshelf right now and it's been on my re-read list for a while.

The guy who owns the Book and Tackle shop in WH is a '38 expert - damn, can't remember his name, gotta be my early onset oldtimer's disease kicking in

Many the old extremely rare trees that used to line Bellevue Avenue in Newport that were imported by the millionaires as a kind of one-upsmanship contest were felled like matchsticks, took months to clear the Avenue again by men using axes and 2 man bucksaws. Must have been amazing -

[BassDawg]

what?

no mention of the hurricane of '92 that hit NPT??

at least i think it was '92-'93, pretty trippy seeing waves
crashing all the way to the center island from first beach.
many uprooted trees down RI Ave and along Green End Road.

the eye was especially exciting, walking around during
the "calm in the midst of the storm" was a memory i'll never forget!!
it was a minor one as far as hurricanes go, but one nonetheless.

carry on

[saltwaterhabits]

Listening to all this talk, maybe I'll pick-up an extra 6 loaves of bread and another 5 gallons of milk today at the market !
For those scratching their heads, this is just a peculiar habit lots of Rhode Islanders have been performing without fail, since 1977

[RIROCKHOUND]

BD,
that was Hurricane Bob; 1991
Anyone East of Newport got the impact, but Bob was a small Cat 1.

It is not a question of if, but when for the next 38 or 54 sized event. There will be a fair amount of unprepared people, that's for sure.

Joe, interesting observation to start the thread. Storm track is usually based on the 'Bermuda High' as I'm sure you already know... not sure what impact the big Lows that keep settling in north of us, producing all this unsettled weather...

[1dozenraw]

and for todays Atlantic forecast....

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

[NIB]

Upper level lows really intensify when they get to the coast.With their clockwise rotations drawing moister off the water in the heat of day the stuff hits the fan like clockwork in the late afternoon..Usually crapping out when the sun goes down..This last one just sliding north of you guys now was well formed,,pretty impressive..
We have had em only half as bad as the NE takes the brunt as they slide up the coast.They certainly are something else.We have had hail twice this summer with all the lightning shows to go with em.. I can't ever remember that happening.
Not sure how they effect hurricanes.I would say we would need some warmer water for that to happen.If u ask me I think it is gonna be a early fall for the first time in years..
While the last hurricane I remember fishing thru was in 99 I think.That was the last early fall I can recall also..

[RIROCKHOUND]

Originally Posted by 1dozenraw

and for todays Atlantic forecast....

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/

It's a cool situation actually.
The front one acts like a blocker, breaking down the shearing winds. the second L could turn out to be the big one!

[Brother Brian]

we're all gonna die.

Surely, but probably not today.
But, just in case, if it DOES happen, can I have your stuff???

[Nebe]

NO. I will need it in the afterlife.

[nklinesider]

i was only in kindergarten when hurrican bob hit and my mom and dad took me to the north kingstown town beach during the eye and it was amazing......we had to walk there because of all the downed trees and flooded streets, there were waves!! which is definetly not a regular accurance. i also will never forget that. weather is a pretty cool subject when its not destroying everything

[saltwaterhabits]

Originally Posted by nklinesider

i was only in kindergarten when hurrican bob hit and my mom and dad took me to the north kingstown town beach during the eye and it was amazing......we had to walk there because of all the downed trees and flooded streets, there were waves!! which is definetly not a regular accurance. i also will never forget that. weather is a pretty cool subject when its not destroying everything

I made the very same walk to the beach after Bob. Wickford was quite a mess- my neighbor on Brown St had a huge tree drop in for a very damaging visit. As with you, all the fallen trees and lines kept us from driving. What I can remember clearly was the smell of fresh wood just permeating the air.

[1dozenraw]

I'm old.... was 8 when Carol rolled through. We were in a house that was about 250' from the beach at Green Hill. The Civil Defense guy, who lived about 200 yards further from the beach on the same street, came and woke us at 4 AM and took us to his house where we stayed throughout the storm. We played Mr Potato Head with a real potato and watched the picture window flex in and out like a drum head.. We too took a walk to the beach during the eye and saw the house closest to the water had been hit by a wave and knocked off its foundation. All the houses that were on the barrier beach between Green Hill and Charlestown were gone and in the pond.

During Hurricane Bob I was living at Green Hill about 10 house up from the beach. The police came around early and announced a mandatory evacuation. I had checked all the trees around the house and cut some limbs that might be a problem, stocked up on food and batteries, so me and my galfriend hunkered down and kept track of everything on TV and then battery powered radio.

I was also right in the path of the tornado that went through Worcester County Mass. I killed 3 people in the house next door (about 75 feet from where I was). I heard the roar and the crash and jumped up on the deep freezer and saw most of it from the basement window. We had gone down in the cellar / cold cellar when we saw the sky turn a weird blackish yellow color.

I'll tell ya... the clean-up after Bob in my area of SoCo was absolutely depressing. It went on forever. It just was overwhelming dealing with trees down, no power for 10 or more days and just debris everywhere. No fun at all.

[Pete F.]

Originally Posted by 1dozenraw

I was also right in the path of the tornado that went through Worcester County Mass. I killed 3 people in the house next door (about 75 feet from where I was). I heard the roar and the crash and jumped up on the deep freezer and saw most of it from the basement window. We had gone down in the cellar / cold cellar when we saw the sky turn a weird blackish yellow color.

Where in Worc. County?

[likwid]

Neither system has any real circulation to it yet.

Little early to cry wolf considering we've had dozens of those cross the Atlantic already this year.

[striperman36]

Dad, Lost the family house, in 1962 NoName Storm in South Jersey,
Sea Isle City NJ, was a flat sandbar, very little was left. We never found anything from the house.
Property was taken by the state as it was right on the primary sand dune.

Was here for Gloria, no biggie, Bob, little bit worse, helped drag boats out of the marsh is Westport for several weeks afterwards and the noname storm same year, 1992. NoName reported to totally devastated the cape, was at ComElectric, working on making sure the CallCenter could handle the load.

[1dozenraw]

Originally Posted by bluefishercat

Where in Worc. County?

At the intersection of Rt 9 and Oak Hill Road in Fayville (part of Southborough). Funnel came diagonally across the intersection, tore up the garage on the SW corner, then leveled the Trioli home which was also the post office.

[RIROCKHOUND]

Originally Posted by likwid

Neither system has any real circulation to it yet.

Little early to cry wolf considering we've had dozens of those cross the Atlantic already this year.

I think this has turned in to a general so co storm discussion anyways

1Doz.
That depressing clean-up was for a Cat 1 storm.
just wait for a big one....

[1dozenraw]

Originally Posted by RIROCKHOUND

1Doz.
That depressing clean-up was for a Cat 1 storm.
just wait for a big one....

Well aware. I had just moved here permanently and was working for and with a fellow who maintained a few large estates... Saunderstown, Beavertail and Matunuck, as well as Shelter Harbor area. So we did nothing but storm clean-up for weeks. Then there were folks who owned property on Green Hill who needed clean-up work done there. It just went on right up to the end of the year. No thanks. But I do believe it is inevitable that we will experience another major storm. My biggest concern is the depletion of the barrier beach along the south coast between the west wall and on down to Watch Hill area. But my focus is the stretch from East Matunuck to Charlestown. I think a bunch of folks who wished they had beach front property are going to get their wish. And a bunch of folks who spent the long dollar to buy beach front are going to wish they hadn't. It'll be "interesting". A gal I grew up with at Green Hill in the summers has an aerial photo of the beach from GH to Moonstone taken in the early 60s. Unless you were there, most folks have no concept of the width of the barrier then as compared to now. I'm sure that there are similar situations all along the coast.

[Crafty Angler]

Originally Posted by BassDawg

what?

no mention of the hurricane of '92 that hit NPT??

Hey, that was a fart, we're talking about gales here

[Crafty Angler]

Originally Posted by Brother Brian

Surely, but probably not today.
But, just in case, if it DOES happen, can I have your stuff???

Get in line, Brian - I was planning on making a generous offer to the Widow Horton for all that old dusty fishing stuff that no one would probably want anyway - I figure $50 or $60 would be fair

Seriously Nebe, don't forget to tell the missus about the kindly old guy from Newport that taught you and Vic the bobbing-for-blackfish technique