Mighty Storms of New England

The Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Blizzards, and Floods That Shaped the Region

Eric P. Fisher

The New England landscape has long been battered by some of the most intense weather in the United States. The region breeds one of the highest concentrations of meteorologists in the country for a reason. One can experience just about anything except a dust storm. Snowstorms, floods, droughts, heat waves, arctic blasts, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, and other atmospheric oddities come and go with the changing seasons. Rare is the boring year of weather.

Knowing the past is a critical part of understanding and forecasting the weather. Meteorologist Eric Fisher takes an in depth look at some of the most intense weather events in New England’s history. The stories in this book not only describe the loss and the damage caused by the storms, but also how nearly all of them in left such an impression that they immediately led to progress where new warnings systems were implemented, government agencies formed, and technology accelerated in response to the devastation these events left behind.

Globe Pequot

Pages: 240 • Trim: 6½ x 9½

978-1-4930-4350-7 • Hardback • October 2021 • $24.95 • (£18.99)

978-1-4930-4351-4 • eBook • October 2021 • $23.50 • (£17.99)

Subjects: History / United States / State & Local / New England (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT), Nature / Natural Disasters

Mighty Storms of New England

The Hurricanes, Tornadoes, Blizzards, and Floods That Shaped the Region

Hardback

eBook

Summary

The New England landscape has long been battered by some of the most intense weather in the United States. The region breeds one of the highest concentrations of meteorologists in the country for a reason. One can experience just about anything except a dust storm. Snowstorms, floods, droughts, heat waves, arctic blasts, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, and other atmospheric oddities come and go with the changing seasons. Rare is the boring year of weather.
Knowing the past is a critical part of understanding and forecasting the weather. Meteorologist Eric Fisher takes an in depth look at some of the most intense weather events in New England’s history. The stories in this book not only describe the loss and the damage caused by the storms, but also how nearly all of them in left such an impression that they immediately led to progress where new warnings systems were implemented, government agencies formed, and technology accelerated in response to the devastation these events left behind.

Details

Globe Pequot

Pages: 240 • Trim: 6½ x 9½

978-1-4930-4350-7 • Hardback • October 2021 • $24.95 • (£18.99)

978-1-4930-4351-4 • eBook • October 2021 • $23.50 • (£17.99)

Subjects: History / United States / State & Local / New England (CT, MA, ME, NH, RI, VT), Nature / Natural Disasters

Author

Eric Fisher is Chief Meteorologist for CBS Boston’s WBZ-TV News and anchors weather segments weeknights at 5 p.m., 6 p.m., and 11 p.m., as well as WBZ-TV News at 10 p.m. on TV38 (WSBK-TV). He is also a contributor for CBS News, often found reporting on breaking severe weather across the country.
Born and raised in New England, Eric says there are few places on earth that produce weather like this little corner of the U.S. It offers the challenges of blockbuster snowstorms, hurricanes, tornadoes, heat waves, frigid cold snaps and dramatic seasonal shifts. Eric vividly remembers Memorial Day of 1995 as a day that helped solidify his path as a meteorologist, when an infamous tornado ripped through Great Barrington in the Berkshires. Glued to the red warnings crawling across the screen and watching the radar, his career in weather was born.
Fisher joined WBZ-TV News from The Weather Channel in Atlanta where he spent three years as a Meteorologist. He produced and delivered national forecasts and contributed to numerous live reports on extreme weather for The Weather Channel, NBC Nightly News, TODAY and MSNBC. Some of the most notable events Fisher reported from include the Moore, Oklahoma tornado in 2013; the 2011 tornado Super Outbreak; Hurricanes Sandy, Irene, and Isaac; and the massive blizzards that essentially shut down New York City in December of 2010 and Boston in February of 2013. Recent times have unfortunately provided no shortage of natural disasters. Previously Fisher worked as the morning meteorologist at WGGB-TV in Springfield, Massachusetts.
A supporter of science and learning, Eric is a member of both the Mount Washington Observatory and the Blue Hill Observatory here in New England. Eric is a graduate of the State University of New York at Albany (SUNY) with a B.S. degree in Atmospheric Science.

Table of Contents

1. Introduction
2. The Great Colonial Hurricane of 1635: Recognized as possibly the strongest hurricane to ever hit New England, many Native Americans perished in its 20-foot storm surge in Narragansett, RI.
3. The Great Snow of 1717: Sixteen foot drifts buried entire flocks of sheep and forced colonists to dig tunnels from their homes.
4. The Snow Hurricane of 1804: The unprecedented tropical cyclone devastated crops and orchards and sunk ships off New England coast.
5. 1816: The Year of No Summer: The 1815 eruption of far-away Mount Tambora caused a frost every month, demolishing New England agriculture.
6. The Blizzard of 1888: More than 400 died in New England’s “Granddaddy of All Storms.”
7. The Hampton Beach Tornado of 1898: Two were killed and 120 injured in collapsed skating rink at the New Hampshire resort.
8. The Portland Gale of 1898: The storm killed more than 400 people and sank more than 150 ships, including the Portland. It also changed the course of the North River in Scituate MA.
9. The Heat Wave of 1911: Sustained temperatures in the 90s and 100s for weeks in July killed 1,110 people in Massachusetts alone.
10. The Vermont Floods of 1927: The flood destroyed 1,285 bridges and killed at least 84 people, including the lieutenant governor who was trapped in his car.
11. The Great New England Hurricane of 1938. The most famous of New England’s storms left 564 dead. Nearly 9,000 homes and businesses along with 6,000 vessels were destroyed.
12. 1947: The Year Maine Burned: Nine towns across the Pine Tree state were completely destroyed as wildfires raged and burned thousands of acres in 90-percent forested Maine.
13. The Worcester Tornado of 1953. Ninety four died when a rare twister devastated New England’s second largest city.
14. Hurricane Carol and Edna of 1954: Carol caused 68 deaths and over $460 million in damage, including destroying 4,000 homes. The name “Carol” was the first Atlantic hurricane name to be retired. Just days later, Edna made landfall in Maine, killing two more and causing $40 million more in damage.
15. Hurricanes Connie and Diane of 1955: Connecticut suffered 77 deaths and $350 million in lost property from the back to back storms.
16. The Blizzard of 1978: The celebrated blizzard and historical high tides brought Boston to a standstill for weeks.
17. “The Perfect Storm” of 1991: Gloucester's Andrea Gail crew was lost at sea during the nor'easter.
18. The “Storm of the Century” of 1993: Biblical snowfall—44 million acre feet—blanketed the Northeast.
19. The Ice Storms of Northern (1998) and Southern (2008) New England: Thousands lose power for weeks as ice blanketed regions 10 year apart.
20. Hurricane Irene and the Floods of 2011: Record rainfall leads to the destruction of 2,400 roads, 800 homes, and 300 bridges--including historic covered bridges—in Vermont.
21. Hurricane Sandy of 2012: The second-costliest hurricane in United States history caused $70 billion in damages across the Eastern seaboard. Nearly 600,000 Connecticut residents were left without power. The Nutmeg State alone suffered more than $350 million in damages.