The
Great Atlantic Hurricane in 1944 was an intense Atlantic hurricane sometimes compared to the
New England Hurricane of 1938The New England Hurricane of 1938 was the first major hurricane to strike New England since 1869...
.
A hurricane was first detected on September 9, northeast of the
Lesser AntillesThe Lesser Antilles, also known as the Caribbees, are part of the Antilles, which together with the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and Greater Antilles form the West Indies...
. It likely developed from a tropical wave several days before. It moved west-northwestward, and steadily intensified to a major hurricane on the 12th, northeast of the Bahamas. Around this time, the Miami Hurricane Warning Office designated this storm
The Great Atlantic Hurricane to emphasize its intensity and size, which appears to be the first time a name was designated by the office which evolved into the
National Hurricane CenterThe National Hurricane Center , located at Florida International University in Miami, Florida, is the division of National Weather Service's Tropical Prediction Center responsible for tracking and predicting the likely behavior of tropical depressions, tropical storms and hurricanes.When tropical...
.
The
Great Atlantic Hurricane in 1944 was an intense Atlantic hurricane sometimes compared to the
New England Hurricane of 1938The New England Hurricane of 1938 was the first major hurricane to strike New England since 1869...
.
Meteorological history
A hurricane was first detected on September 9, northeast of the
Lesser AntillesThe Lesser Antilles, also known as the Caribbees, are part of the Antilles, which together with the Bahamas, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and Greater Antilles form the West Indies...
. It likely developed from a tropical wave several days before. It moved west-northwestward, and steadily intensified to a major hurricane on the 12th, northeast of the Bahamas. Around this time, the Miami Hurricane Warning Office designated this storm
The Great Atlantic Hurricane to emphasize its intensity and size, which appears to be the first time a name was designated by the office which evolved into the
National Hurricane CenterThe National Hurricane Center , located at Florida International University in Miami, Florida, is the division of National Weather Service's Tropical Prediction Center responsible for tracking and predicting the likely behavior of tropical depressions, tropical storms and hurricanes.When tropical...
. The hurricane turned northward, where dry and cooler air was entrained into the circulation. It weakened to a Category 2 hurricane on the 14th as it recurved to the northwest, and hit the
Outer BanksThe Outer Banks is a 200-mile long string of narrow barrier islands off the coast of North Carolina, beginning in southeastern corner of Virginia Beach on the east coast of the United States....
later that day.
Moving rapidly to the northeast, the hurricane maintained its strength somewhat at the time of its
Long IslandLong Island is an island located in southeastern New York, United States, just east of Manhattan. Stretching northeast into the Atlantic Ocean, Long Island contains four counties, two of which are boroughs of New York City, and two of which are mainly suburban...
landfall on September 15, hitting as an hurricane. Shortly thereafter it crossed the
Rhode IslandRhode Island and Providence Plantations, more commonly referred to as Rhode Island , is a state in the New England region of the United States. It is the smallest U.S. state by area...
coastline, and after emerging into the Massachusetts Bay it hit
MaineThe State of Maine is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States, bordering the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, New Hampshire to the southwest, and the Canadian provinces of Quebec to the northwest and New Brunswick to the northeast. Maine is the northernmost portion of...
, just before becoming extratropical. The non-tropical system continued northeastward, and merged with a larger extratropical low on the 16th south of
GreenlandGreenland is an autonomous constituent country within the Kingdom of Denmark located between the Arctic and Atlantic Oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago...
.
Impact
The hurricane caused $100 million in damage (1947
USDThe United States dollar is the unit of currency of the United States. The U.S. dollar is normally abbreviated as the dollar sign, $, or as USD or US$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies and from others that use the $ symbol. It is divided into 100 cents .The U.S...
), roughly one-third of the 1938 hurricane. 390 lives were lost from the hurricane. Most of them were from marine casualties. 46 deaths occurred on land, a low toll due to the well-executed warnings and evacuations.
The last time two intense New England hurricanes occurred so closely together were the
Great September Gale of 1815The Great September Gale of 1815 is one of five "major hurricanes" to strike New England since 1635...
and the 1821 Norfolk and Long Island Hurricane.
Hatteras
This storm wreaked havoc on
Hatteras IslandHatteras Island is a barrier island located off the North Carolina coast. Dividing the Atlantic Ocean and the Pamlico Sound, it runs parallel to the coast, forming a bend at Cape Hatteras. It is part of North Carolina's Outer Banks and includes the towns of Rodanthe, Waves, Salvo, Avon, Buxton,...
,
North CarolinaNorth Carolina is a state located on the Atlantic Seaboard in the southeastern United States. The state borders South Carolina and Georgia to the south, Tennessee to the west and Virginia to the north. North Carolina contains 100 counties...
causing the residents to relocate the entire village of Kinnakeet a few miles further south. Just off
Oregon InletOregon Inlet is an inlet along North Carolina's Outer Banks. It joins the Pamlico Sound with the Atlantic Ocean and separates Bodie Island from Pea Island, which are connected by a 2.5 mile bridge that spans the inlet...
, it sank two
United States Coast Guard CutterA United States Coast Guard cutter is any vessel operated by the United States Coast Guard that is over 65 feet in length.- History of the USCG cutters :...
s, USCGC
Jackson (WSC-142) and USCGC
Bedloe (WSC-128), with a loss of 48 men.
USS Warrington
The storm was also responsible for sinking the Navy destroyer
USS Warrington (DD-383)USS Warrington , a , was the 2nd ship of the United States Navy to be named for Lewis Warrington, who was an officer in the Navy during the Barbary Wars and the War of 1812...
approximately east of Vero Beach, FL, with a loss of 248 sailors. The hurricane was one of the most powerful to traverse the Eastern Seaboard, reaching Category 4 when it encountered the
Warrington, and producing hurricane force winds over a diameter of . The hurricane also produced waves in excess of in height. The hurricane and the sinking of the USS
Warrington are documented in the 1996 book
The Dragon's Breath - Hurricane At Sea, written by Commander Robert A. Dawes, Jr. (a former Commanding Officer of the
Warrington), and published by Naval Institute Press.
In addition to the
Warrington and the Coast Guard Cutters
Bedloe and
Jackson, this hurricane claimed the long minesweeper USS
YMS-409 which foundered and sank with all 33 on board lost. Further north, it also claimed the Lightship
Vineyard Sound (LV-73), which was sunk with the loss of all 12 aboard. It also drove the
S.S. Thomas Tracy aground in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware.
See also
External links