New England is Way Overdue for a Hurricane
Even though the 2022 Atlantic Hurricane season started on June 1, we still have a lot of the season left, and it's been quiet. Too quiet. Hurricane Season ends on November 30, so we still have plenty of time to see if this super quiet season gets loud, and predictions say it should happen for New England.
We've only had six hurricanes in the Atlantic for 2022, none of them near New England. However, New England Meteorologist Mark Rosenthal says we're overdue. And he's not alone. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is still predicting an "above-average" Atlantic hurricane season with anywhere from 14 to 21 named storms, three to six of them being at least a category 3, with direct hit potential in New England.
And who can forget the devastation we've felt from Cape Cod to Maine and along the Rhode Island and Connecticut coastlines, that actually forced the retiring of hurricane names? The names are usually recycled every six years.
RETIRED NAMES
Hurricane Edna caused $42 million damage in September, 1954. She was a category 3, finally weakening when she made landfall in Massachusetts, but still causing widespread evacuations because of her unpredictability.
Hurricane Connie was a category 4 in August,1955, and caused some heavy flooding along the Connecticut coastline by the time it reached New England. Overall damage was estimated at $40 million.
Hurricane Diana in August,1955, joined Connie, and was a category 2 that wreaked havoc on over 200 dams all over New England, damaging or destroying them all. It also injured thousands, with much of the damage in the New England states of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Connecticut, and totaling $831 million overall.
Hurricane Gloria in September, 1985, was a category 4 that caused the most damage in New England when it affected Connecticut. It also caused lots of wind and rain issues throughout all of New England, and totaled $900 million.
Hurricane Bob in August, 1991, was one of the costliest hurricanes in New England history at that time. This category 3 made landfall in Rhode Island, then went on to the Gulf of Maine, and finally making landfall again in Maine. Total destruction costs were around $1.5 billion.
Hurricane Floyd was a September, 1999, category 4 storm that damaged so much of the East Coast, eventually landing in New England and flooding the southern New England coastline, then causing major power outages in New Hampshire and Maine. She was a $6.9 billion disaster overall.
Hurricane Irene conquered southern New England in August, 2011, as a category 3 at $14.2 billion. New England states opened shelters everywhere, and the National Guard from Maine to Rhode Island was dispatched.
Hurricane Sandy, known as Superstorm Sandy in October, 2012, pummeled southern New England even after it traveled up the East Coast. The total price tag was $68.7 billion when she finished her terror. She was a category 3.
Here's a list of the Hurricane names for the Atlantic, and as you can see, we've already had six of them when this article was written. Now we just wait, and hopefully it stays quiet.
- Alex
- Bonnie
- Colin
- Danielle
- Earl
- Fiona
- Gaston
- Hermine
- Ian
- Julia
- Karl
- Lisa
- Martin
- Nicole
- Owen
- Paula
- Richard
- Shary
- Tobias
- Virginie
- Walter