A New England resident under the age of 33 would have no perception of a hurricane landfall in the region. August 19th, 1991 remains the most recent event. That storm was hurricane Bob, a category 2 that did significant damage, especially to the Rhode Island coastline. Though it’s been nearly 34 years since the last one, New England is very overdue for the next.
All 15 hurricanes to make landfall in New England since records began in 1851
Dating back to records beginning in 1851, there have been 15 recorded hurricane landfalls in New England. That comes out to one landfall every 11-12 years on average. The longest period of time between two events was 1896 and 1938, a margin of 42 years.
This means that we’re currently living through the second longest quiet period in our 166 years of record keeping, and normally would have seen about three hurricanes in this time!
Fortunately, only the hurricanes of 1869, 1938, and hurricane Carol in 1954 have been major hurricanes (category 3 or higher) at landfall. Cooler waters with northward extent generally weaken storms as they gain latitude.
No matter how long the drought may be though, it’s important to prepare for the worst as we get into late summer and fall months. It’s not a matter of if, but when the next storm strikes.
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