NWS Taunton Public Information Statement – 20th Anniversary of Hurricane Bob

August 20, 2011 Rob Macedo Leave a comment

Hello to all..

The last hurricane to make a direct hit on Southern New England was Hurricane Bob on August 19th, 1991 and Friday marked the 20th Anniversary of Hurricane Bob’s landfall in the region. Hurricane Bob caused extensive damage in Southern New England from hurricane force winds and storm surge as well as from heavy rainfall and flooding. While it has been 20 years since the last hurricane to directly impact Southern New England as a hurricane, tropical systems have made their mark on New England during this period with tropical storm conditions and in some cases hurricane force wind gusts to parts of the region such as what occurred with Hurricane Edouard over Cape Cod and the Islands in September 1996 and Tropical Storm Bertha over much of the Southern New England coast in July 1996. Other tropical storms that had some impact on the region with heavy rainfall and tropical storm force winds included Tropical Storm Hannah in September 2008, Hurricane Floyd, which affected the region as a tropical storm in September 1999 and Tropical Storm Danny in July 1997. There have also been remnants of tropical systems over the years that have brought flooding and severe weather to the region.

While it has been 20 years since the last direct impact by a hurricane to Southern New England, we are approaching the peak of hurricane season. Now is the time to prepare for the new season. Even if a hurricane does not strike the region, you will be more prepared for any other weather related disaster scenarios that could occur during the winter or other timeframes.

To commemorate Hurricane Bob’s landfall on Southern New England, NWS Taunton issued a Public Information Statement concerning Hurricane Bob highlighting some of his impacts and that despite Bob’s significant hit to the area, he was not a major hurricane and the last major hurricane strike was Hurricane Carol in 1954. Below is the Public Information Statement commemorating the 20th anniversary of Hurricane Bob:

NOUS41 KBOX 191513
PNSBOX
CTZ002>004-MAZ002>024-026-NHZ011-012-015-RIZ001>008-200241-

PUBLIC INFORMATION STATEMENT
NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE TAUNTON MA
1112 AM EDT FRI AUG 19 2011

…20 YEARS SINCE HURRICANE BOB HIT NEW ENGLAND…

THE LAST TIME THAT NEW ENGLAND TOOK A DIRECT HIT FROM A HURRICANE
WAS 20 YEARS AGO…ON AUGUST 19 1991…WHEN HURRICANE BOB HIT
SOUTHEASTERN NEW ENGLAND. AS BAD AS BOB WAS…IT WAS ONLY A CATEGORY
TWO HURRICANE AT LANDFALL. THE LAST TIME THAT NEW ENGLAND WAS HIT BY
A MAJOR HURRICANE…CATEGORY 3…WAS IN 1954 WHICH IS 57 YEARS AGO.

HURRICANE BOB DEVELOPED IN THE CENTRAL BAHAMAS ON AUGUST 16
1991…THEN STEADILY INTENSIFIED AND REACHED HURRICANE STATUS ON
THE EVENING OF AUGUST 17. BOB STRENGTHENED AND ACCELERATED
NORTHEASTWARD. THE EYE OF BOB PASSED OVER BLOCK ISLAND, RI AT
APPROXIMATELY 130 PM ON AUGUST 19 AND MADE LANDFALL OVER
NEWPORT, RI SHORTLY BEFORE 2 PM.

HURRICANE BOB BROUGHT SUSTAINED HURRICANE FORCE WINDS TO THE
IMMEDIATE COASTAL COMMUNITIES OF RHODE ISLAND AND MOST OF
SOUTHEASTERN MASSACHUSETTS. STRONG TROPICAL STORM FORCE WINDS BLEW
ACROSS THE REMAINDER OF THE REGION WITH MANY AREAS RECEIVING GUSTS
TO HURRICANE FORCE EAST OF THE CONNECTICUT RIVER. WIND DAMAGE TO
TREES AND UTILITY POLES WAS COMMON AND RESULTED 60 PERCENT OF
RESIDENTS IN SOUTHEAST RHODE ISLAND AND SOUTHEAST MASSACHUSETTS
LOSING POWER. APPLE AND PEACH ORCHARDS THERE WERE EXTENSIVELY
DAMAGED.

COASTAL COMMUNITIES BORE THE BRUNT OF THE STORM WITH SUSTAINED WINDS
BETWEEN 75 AND 100 MPH. GUSTS TO 125 MPH WERE RECORDED IN BREWSTER
AND NORTH TRURO ON CAPE COD…AND ALSO IN WETHERSFIELD CONNECTICUT.
THE HIGHEST SUSTAINED WIND…OF 100 MPH…WAS RECORDED IN NORTH
TRURO. BLOCK ISLAND REPORTED SUSTAINED WINDS OF 90 MPH WITH GUSTS IN
EXCESS OF 105 MPH WHICH WAS THE MAXIMUM SPEED OF THAT EQUIPMENT.
THERE WERE 4 REPORTS OF TORNADOES AS BOB CAME ASHORE. THE LOWEST
BAROMETRIC PRESSURE WAS RECORDED BY THE USS VALDEZ WHILE IN THE EAST
PASSAGE OF NARRAGANSETT BAY…WITH A READING OF 28.47.

HURRICANE BOB CAUSED A STORM SURGE OF 5 TO 8 FEET ALONG THE RHODE
ISLAND SHORE…BUT DROVE A SURGE OF 10 TO 15 FEET INTO BUZZARDS BAY.
THE HIGHEST SURGES…12 TO 15 FEET…WERE OBSERVED IN ONSET…
BOURNE…MASHPEE…AND WAREHAM AT THE HEAD OF BUZZARDS BAY.
COVE ROAD…IN MATTAPOISETT MASSACHUSETTS…HAD 29 OF 37 HOMES
DESTROYED WHILE ANGELICA POINT MASSACHUSETTS LOST 32 OF 35 HOMES
ALONG THE SHORE. BOAT DAMAGE WAS SIGNIFICANT WITH MANY BOATS TORN
FROM THEIR MOORINGS. SOME SOUTH FACING BEACHES ON MARTHAS VINEYARD
AND NANTUCKET LOST UP TO 50 FEET OF BEACH DUE TO EROSION.

AS IS TYPICALLY THE CASE WITH NEW ENGLAND HURRICANES…HEAVY RAIN
WAS FOCUSED TO THE WEST OF THE TRACK OF THE STORM. 3 TO 7 INCHES OF
RAIN OCCURRED ACROSS ALL OF RHODE ISLAND EXCEPT THE SOUTHEAST
PORTION…WITH THE HIGHEST READING OF 7.01 INCHES IN FOSTER. LESS
THAN AN INCH OF RAIN OCCURRED ON CAPE COD TO THE EAST OF THE
TRACK…BUT THAT IS WHERE THE HIGHEST WINDS AND STORM SURGE OCCURRED.

BOB WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR SIX DEATHS IN THE REGION…ALL IN
CONNECTICUT. TOTAL DAMAGE IN SOUTHERN NEW ENGLAND WAS APPROXIMATELY
680 MILLION DOLLARS.

THIS INFORMATION WAS TAKEN FROM A PAPER ENTITLED “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.

$$
FIELD

Respectfully Submitted,

Robert Macedo (KD1CY)
ARES SKYWARN Coordinator
Eastern Massachusetts ARES Section Emergency Coordinator
Home Phone #: (508) 994-1875 (After 6 PM)
Home/Data #: (508) 997-4503 (After 6 PM)
Work Phone #: 508-346-2929 (8 AM-5 PM)
Email Address: rmacedo@rcn.com
http://ares.ema.arrl.org
http://beta.wx1box.org