Weekly Ocean News

WEEKLY OCEAN NEWS

17-21 September 2018

Items of Interest:

Impressive pictures of Hurricane Florence made by Space Station astronauts -- Several digital photographs were made by one of the astronauts onboard the International Space Station of Hurricane Florence as it was making landfall along the southeastern North Carolina coast last Friday morning. The main feature of these images was a collection of large vertically developed clouds (called cumulonimbus clouds) associated with deep convection surrounded Florence. The bumpy clouds surrounding the lower portion of the hurricane were forming a counterclockwise and inward swirl, while the smoother cloud tops had an appearance of a clockwise outflow, as indicated by some wispy high-level clouds. The diameter of the hurricane was approximately 400 miles. In addition to the large cloud swirl that surrounded this category 1 hurricane (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale), several other interesting features can be seen. The clouds were sufficiently tall to produce a visible cloud shadow close to the bottom of the picture. A light blue and white band can be seen at the edge of the Earth's limb, showing the vertical extent of the atmosphere. Atmospheric constituents (including gases and particulate matter) are scattering the incoming sunlight) to give a blue grading to white appearance. From the Space Station orbiting at an altitude of 240 miles, the atmosphere with an effective height of approximately 60 miles can be seen as only a narrow strip. [NASA Space Station]
Updated "NOAA Extreme Weather Information Sheets" available for this hurricane season -- The Center for Coasts, Oceans & Geophysics of NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) recently released its yearly updated set of 22 "NOAA Extreme Weather Information Sheets" (NEWIS) for those selected regions that are at high risk from tropical cyclones (tropical storms and hurricanes) along the nation's coasts. The NEWIS for 2018 contain important contact information for coastal regions that can be downloaded as a pdf file or as a free app for Apple devices. These sheets, which appear in an easy-to-read format, have been developed for each of the states along the Atlantic and Gulf Coasts from North Carolina to Texas, the Caribbean Islands of Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands, and Hawaii. The goal of these information sheets is to help the public increase their weather readiness as part of NOAA's "Weather-Ready Nation" initiative. [NOAA NCEI News]
September is National Preparedness Month -- The month of September has been declared National Preparedness Month (NPM), which is aims to educate and empower Americans to prepare for and respond to all types of emergencies, including natural disasters. NPM is managed and sponsored by the Federal Emergency Management Administration's (FEMA) Ready Campaign in conjunction with the Ad Council. A toolkit of marketing materials is provided to help promote the month and represents the lead on this campaign that was originally launched in 2004. The overarching theme for 2018 NPM is "Disasters Happen. Prepare Now. Learn How" with an emphasis on planning. Week 3 of the 2018 NPM ends this Saturday (22 September) with the theme of "Check Your Insurance Coverage."
Week 4 of the 2018 NPM (23-29 September) has the theme "Save For an Emergency." [FEMA's Ready.gov]
The term "marine heritage" is explained -- NOAA's National Ocean Service recently posted their explanation of the term "marine heritage." Their definition includes the physical resources, such as shipwrecks and prehistorical archaeological sites, as well as archival documents and oral histories that can include the stories of indigenous cultures that have lived and used the oceans for thousands of years. [NOAA National Ocean Service Ocean Facts]
National Estuaries Week continues --The National Estuaries Week that started this past Saturday (16 September) will run through this week and conclude this coming Saturday, the 23rd. National Estuaries Week, which was first organized in 1988, is designed to celebrate promote the importance of estuaries and bays and how the public benefits from healthy, thriving the coastal ecosystems. During this week, which is the 30th anniversary observance, organizations from around the nation including the non-profit Restore America's Estuaries member groups, NOAA's National Estuarine Research Reserves and EPA's National Estuary Programs will be organizing special events, such as workshops, beach clean-ups, hikes and trips involving canoes and kayaks. [Restore America's Estuaries]
The Autumnal Equinox --The Autumnal Equinox will occur early this coming Saturday evening (officially at 0154Z on 23 September 2018 or 9:54 PM EDT or 8:54 PM CDT, etc. tonight, on the 22nd). At that time the noontime sun will appear directly above the equator, representing one of the two times during the year for such an occurrence, with the other being at the vernal equinox in March. The term "equinox" arises from the fact that this time of year represents "equal night" and equal day essentially everywhere. Within the subsequent several days, the length of daylight will become noticeably shorter. This decrease in daylight will continue for another three months to the winter solstice during the late afternoon of Friday, 21 December 2018.
Editor's note: John White, a meteorologist from North Carolina involved with the AMS Education program, reported that the geosynchronous (or geostationary) satellites make an "satellite eclipse" of the sun near the spring and autumnal equinoxes because of their equatorial orbit, such that these satellites pass through the earth's shadow and the satellite is powered down when the solar array does not receive sufficient sunlight. EJH.
If you check the sunrise and sunset times in your local newspaper or from the climate page at your local National Weather Service Office, you would probably find that early next week the length of time when the Sun is above the local horizon would be precisely 12 hours at most locations. By the end of next week, the length of night will exceed that of the length of daylight. The effects of atmospheric refraction (bending of light rays by the varying density of the atmosphere) along with a relatively large diameter of the sun contribute to several additional minutes that the Sun appears above the horizon at sunrise and sunset.
Aspects of ocean water chemistry and marine life considered -- If you would like more background information concerning how marine organisms evolved in the ocean with a relatively narrow range of chemical and physical characteristics, please read this week's Supplemental Information...In Greater Depth.

Ocean in the News

Eye on the tropics -- During the past week named tropical cyclones (low pressure systems that form over tropical ocean waters, with near surface maximum sustained winds that intensify to tropical storm or hurricane force status) were found across the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean basins of the Northern Hemisphere and over the Indian Ocean in the Southern Hemisphere:

In the North Atlantic Basin (that also includes the Caribbean Sea and Gulf of Mexico):
- Hurricane Florence had regained strength at the start of last week, becoming a category 2 hurricane (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale) as it was traveling toward the west-northwest approximately 625 miles to the southeast of Bermuda or 535 miles to the north-northeast of the northern Leeward Islands. Florence continued its rapid intensification, becoming a category 4 hurricane by late Monday afternoon as a NOAA hurricane hunter aircraft measured maximum sustained surface winds of 140 mph. At that time, Florence was approximately 1170 miles to the east-southeast of Cape Fear, NC. Florence had reached category 4 status late in the previous week before weakening to a tropical storm. During the next three days, Florence continued its travels to the west-northwest toward the North Carolina coast. Weakening began and just after sunrise on Friday morning, the center of Florence made landfall near Wrightsville Beach, NC as a high-end category 1 hurricane, with maximum sustained surface winds estimated to have been 90 mph. After making landfall, Florence took a turn toward the west across extreme southeastern North Carolina. By late Friday afternoon Florence was downgraded to a tropical storm as maximum sustained surface winds had dropped to 70 mph. For much of Friday, sections of North and South Carolina experienced hurricane-force wind gusts, life-threatening storm surges and torrential rains that produced catastrophic freshwater water flooding. Tornadoes were also spawned across coastal North Carolina in the front right quadrant of Florence after landfall. Curving toward the west-southwest, the center of this tropical storm moved into eastern North Carolina by early Saturday morning. Tropical Storm Florence continued weakening on Saturday, becoming a tropical depression over central South Carolina before sunrise on Sunday. By midday, Tropical Depression Florence had begun turning toward the north. As of late Sunday night, Tropical Depression Florence was located approximately 30 miles to the east-northeast of Asheville, North Carolina. Widespread torrential rains continued across much of North Carolina and northeastern South Carolina. Florence was forecast to travel toward the northeast on Monday before turning toward the east on Tuesday. Weakening should continue on Monday before becoming an extra-tropical cyclone on Tuesday. The NASA Hurricane Blog Page has additional information and satellite images for Hurricane Florence
- Hurricane Helene, the fourth Atlantic hurricane of 2018, was moving toward the west-northwest last Monday morning. At that time, Helene was a category 1 hurricane that was approximately 300 miles to the west of the southernmost Cabo Verde Islands. By early Monday afternoon, Helene had strengthened to a category 2 hurricane that was beginning to curve toward the northwest. Over the next two days, Hurricane Helene took a track that curved toward the north. By early Thursday afternoon, Helene had weakened to a tropical storm as it was heading north approximately 1130 miles to the southwest of the Azores. Passing to approximately 100 miles to the west of the western Azores on Saturday evening, these islands experienced tropical-storm-force winds, high surf and torrential rains accompanying Helene. As of early Sunday afternoon Helene had become a post-tropical cyclone, or remnant low, as its center was moving toward the northeast approximately 400 miles to the north of the Azores. Consult the NASA Hurricane Blog Page for satellite images and more information on Hurricane Helene.
- Hurricane Isaac, the fifth hurricane of 2018 in the North Atlantic, was moving westward across the central tropical Atlantic last Monday morning as this category 1 hurricane was approximately 1200 miles east of the Windward Islands. However, this minimal hurricane weakened to tropical storm status by late Monday night as maximum sustained surface weakened to 70 mph, just below the hurricane threshold of 74 mph. Isaac remained a high-end tropical storm over the next several days as it continued to the west toward the Lesser Antilles. By early Friday, Tropical Storm Isaac had weakened to a tropical depression, but re-strengthen to a tropical storm on Friday evening. Moving across the eastern Caribbean, Isaac weakened again to become a tropical depression early Saturday morning and then to a remnant low. Later in the morning, a NOAA hurricane hunter aircraft had determined that the remnants of former Hurricane Isaac had dissipated approximately 260 miles to the south-southwest of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. Torrential rains associated with this remnant low were falling across the Dominican Republic, Haiti, and Jamaica. The NASA Hurricane Blog Page has additional information and satellite information on Hurricane Isaac.
- Last Wednesday evening (local time) Subtropical Storm Joyce formed over the waters of the central North Atlantic, approximately 870 miles to the west-southwest of the Azores. (A subtropical storm is an organized low pressure system originating over tropical or subtropical waters that has without fronts, along with some characteristics of both a tropical and an extratropical cyclone or midlatitude low pressure system.) Moving toward the southwest, Joyce eventually became a minimal tropical storm as of early Friday morning as it was 870 miles west-southwest of the Azores. After drifting toward the southwest, Tropical Storm Joyce strengthened with maximum sustained winds reaching 50 mph as it began to curve toward the south on Friday before turning toward the east by early Saturday. Eventually, Joyce began weakening as it continued toward the east and east-northeast on Saturday. By midday Sunday, Joyce had become a tropical depression as maximum sustained surface winds had weakened to 35 mph. By early Monday, Tropical Depression Joyce was traveling toward the east, as it was located approximately 330 miles to the southwest of the Azores. Joyce was forecast to continue weakening on Monday and Tuesday to become a remnant low as it curves toward the southeast and then south.
  Additional information and satellite images for Tropical Storm Joyce are available on the NASA Hurricane Blog Page.
In the eastern North Pacific basin (east of the 140-degree West meridian of longitude), Tropical Storm Paul was traveling to the northwest away from the western coast of Mexico at the start of last week. At that time Paul was approximately 700 miles to the west of Cabo San Lucas, which is at the southern tip of Mexico's Baja California Peninsula. Paul weakened to a tropical depression by Monday evening, as it began curving toward the west-northwest. As of early Wednesday morning Paul became a remnant low approximately 1115 miles to the west of Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. [NASA Hurricane Blog Page]
In the central North Pacific basin (between the 140-degree West meridian of longitude and the International Dateline), Hurricane Oliva was traveling to the west toward the Hawaiian Islands early last Monday morning (local time). At the time, this category 1 hurricane (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale) was located approximately 480 miles to the east northeast of Hilo, HI. Olivia weakened to a tropical storm on Monday afternoon. On Wednesday morning, Tropical Storm Olivia made a brief landfall on Hawaii's northwest Maui and then over Lanai. Strong winds, large surf and torrential rains spread across these islands. Olivia passed to the south of Oahu as it continued weakening later on Wednesday. By late Wednesday evening Olivia weakened to a tropical depression to the south-southwest of Kauai. By Thursday, Olivia was beginning to travel toward the west-southwest and by late afternoon, this tropical depression had weakened to a post tropical cyclone or remnant low approximately 440 miles to the west-southwest of Honolulu. Additional information and satellite imagery for Hurricane Olivia appear on the NASA Hurricane Blog Page.
In the western North Pacific basin (to the west of the International Dateline):
- Typhoon Mangkhut, a category 1 typhoon (on the Saffir-Simpson Scale), traveled westward last Monday and made landfall on the islands of Rota, Northern Mariana Islands. Continuing westward, Mangkhut rapidly strengthened to a category 5 super typhoon on Wednesday afternoon (local time) At the start of this past weekend, Super Typhoon Mangkhut had made landfall on the Philippine island of Luzon. After crossing Luzon, Mangkhut traveled toward the west-northwest over the China Sea, striking Hong Kong. By late Monday, the Mangkhut had moved to the west-northwest into mainland China and was weakening. At that time, Mangkhut was 150 miles to the west of Hong Kong. According to some reports, Super Typhoon Mangkhut was the strongest tropical cyclone worldwide so far in 2018. As of Monday, Mangkhut was responsible for at least 62 fatalities, with 59 occurring in the Philippines, two in mainland China and one in Taiwan. Satellite images and additional information on Super Typhoon Mangkhut can be obtained from the NASA Hurricane Blog Page.
- Tropical Storm Barijat developed from a tropical depression at the start of last week over the South China Sea. By late Thursday, Tropical Storm Barijat had passed approximately 200 miles to the south of Hong Kong and made landfall along the Leizhou Peninsula on the southern coast of China. The remnants of Barijat moved across the Gulf of Tonkin toward northern Vietnam. The NASA Hurricane Blog Page has additional information and satellite imagery on Tropical Storm Barijat.
In the South Indian Ocean basin: A tropical depression formed to the south-southwest of Diego Garcia last Thursday and then strengthened to become Tropical Cyclone 1S as it traveled toward the west-southwest. By early Monday (local time), Tropical Cyclone 1S was beginning to dissipate as it was located approximately 680 miles to the northeast of Port Louis, Mauritius.

El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion -- NOAA's Climate Prediction Center (CPC) and the International Research Institute for Climate and Society (IRI) recently released their El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) Diagnostic Discussion that showed ENSO-neutral conditions in both the oceans and atmosphere were observed during the month of August 2018, meaning that neither an El Niño or La Niña event was underway. A blend of slightly below- to slightly above-average sea surface temperatures (SST) was found across the central and eastern equatorial Pacific during this past month. Near-surface winds were from the west over the western and east-central equatorial Pacific. Convection returned to near average levels near the Dateline and over Indonesia. Most of the available forecast models indicate a transition from ENSO-neutral to weak El Niño conditions during this Northern Hemisphere meteorological autumn (September-November), with a continuation through the Northern Hemisphere's 2018-19 winter (December-February). Consequently, forecasters at CPC are continuing their El Niño Watch, which indicates a 50 to 60 percent chance of El Niño developing during the Northern Hemisphere fall, along with the chance of El Niño increasing to between 65 and 70 percent during winter 2018-19. An ENSO blog written by a CPC contractor describes in relatively plain terms the ENSO-neutral conditions that continued into early September and why her colleagues at CPC decided to post a El Niño watch for the upcoming autumn and winter months. [NOAA Climate.gov News]
A detailed and more technical El Niño/Southern Oscillation Diagnostic Discussion with supporting maps and charts is available from CPC.
Forecasters with the Australian Bureau of Meteorology recently issued an updated ENSO forecast from a Southern Hemisphere perspective. They reported continuation of ENSO-neutral conditions. However, based upon the outlook model outputs and current conditions, they foresee the possible onset of El Niño conditions by the end of the calendar year of 2018, which corresponds to Southern Hemisphere summer. Therefore, they have set their Bureau's ENSO Outlook to El Niño WATCH, meaning an approximately 50 percent chance of El Niño formation. [Australian Government Bureau of Meteorology]
Claim that "global warming stopped in 1998" is refuted -- A contractor with NOAA's Climate Program Office recently posted a discussion on the Climate Q&A blog for the ClimateWatch Magazine showing that the global temperature dataset shows that the rise in global temperature between 1998 and 2012 was slower than the temperature rise during the two previous 15-year periods, refuting the claim by some that "global warming stopped in 1998," which was also termed a "hiatus" in the warming. In fact, the temperature increase of 0.14 Fahrenheit degrees per decade during this recent 1998-2012 interval was nearly identical to the global average surface temperature rate of increase by 0.13 Fahrenheit degrees per decade since 1880. The slight slowdown in the recent warming from the three preceding decades could be attributed to natural variability in the Pacific Ocean associated with El Niño and La Niña events; recent solar cycles that were atypical; and recent volcanic eruptions that emitted sun-reflecting airborne particles. [NOAA NCEI News]
Monetary awards made to advance community resilience to weather and climate hazards -- Nine new projects in eight states and the U.S. Virgin Islands will receive a total $3 million from NOAA's Environmental Literacy Program to use in build the foundation for resilience to weather and climate hazards through education. This year marks the fourth year that NOAA's Office of Education is funding community resilience projects through its Environmental Literacy Program. [NOAA News]
Ocean and coastal recreation is big business according to recent national survey - Social scientists at NOAA Fisheries recently reported upon the results on the "National Ocean Recreation Expenditure Survey" that they conducted in 2012 and 2013. This survey was designed to estimate participation levels by the public and the numbers of days spent enjoying a broad range of ocean and coastal recreation activities. The survey results indicated that in 2012, nearly 49 million adults (over 18 years of age) nationwide participated in ocean and coastal recreation, spending more than 1.2 billion days along the coasts and spending over $141 billion in ocean recreation-related goods and services. [NOAA NCEI News]
An All-Hazards Monitor-- This Web portal provides the user information from NOAA's National Weather Service, FAA and FEMA on current environmental events that may pose as hazards such as tropical weather, fire weather, marine weather, severe weather, drought and floods. [NOAA/NWS Daily Briefing]
Earthweek -- Diary of the Planet [earthweek.com]

Concept of the Week: Sea Water Salinity and Carbon Dioxide

In view of the contemporary concern regarding global climate change, scientists are studying the various factors that govern the ocean's ability to absorb atmospheric carbon dioxide. Concentrations of atmospheric carbon dioxide are on the rise primarily because of the burning of fossil fuels (i.e., coal, oil, natural gas). Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas (an atmospheric gas that absorbs and radiates infrared radiation) so that higher levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide may be contributing to global warming. The ocean's role in regulating the concentration of atmospheric carbon dioxide depends on the temperature, salinity, and biological components of surface waters.

As noted in Chapter 3 of your textbook, gases are more soluble in cold seawater than warm seawater. Hence, changes in sea surface temperature affect the ability of the ocean to absorb carbon dioxide. As noted in Chapter 1 of your textbook, photosynthetic organisms take up carbon dioxide and release oxygen. And through cellular respiration, all organisms release carbon dioxide. What about the effects of changes in salinity on the ocean's uptake of atmospheric carbon dioxide? Research from the Pacific Ocean near Hawaii provides some insight on this question.

Since the late 1980s, scientists have been recording ocean conditions at a site (dubbed ALOHA) about 100 km (62 mi) north of Oahu. In 2003, David M. Karl, a biogeochemist at the University of Hawaii in Honolulu, reported a decline in the rate at which surface ocean waters were absorbing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. In fact, in 2001, the rate of CO₂ uptake was only about 15% of what it was in 1989. Why the change in CO₂ uptake? In this region of the Pacific north of Hawaii, sea surface temperatures showed no significant change during the period of observation, but precipitation decreased and evaporation increased. Less precipitation coupled with higher rates of evaporation caused the surface water salinity at ALOHA to increase by about 1%. Increasing salinity inhibits water's ability to absorb gases including carbon dioxide. Karl and his colleagues attribute 40% of the decline in the ocean's CO₂ uptake to the saltier waters. The balance of the decline may be due to changes in biological productivity or ocean mixing.

Historical Events

24 September 1493...Christopher Columbus set sail with 17 ships on his second expedition to the New World, reaching the Lesser Antilles, the Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico and Hispaniola before returning to Europe in March 1496. (Wikipedia)
17 September 1829...The Siebold Typhoon, Japan's most catastrophic typhoon, inflicted widespread damage over much of Japan. On the southern island of Kyushu, the storm surge off the Ariake Sea killed 10,000 people. (National Weather Service files)
17-23 September 1989...Hurricane Hugo hit the Virgin Islands on the 17^th, producing wind gusts to 97 mph at Saint Croix. Hurricane Hugo passed directly over the island of Saint Croix causing complete devastation and essentially cutting off the island's communications systems. A storm surge of five to seven feet occurred at Saint Croix. The only rain gauge left operating, at Caneel Bay, indicated 9.40 in. in 24 hrs. Hurricane Hugo claimed the lives of three persons at Saint Croix, and caused more than $500 million in damage. A ship, Nightcap, in the harbor of Culebra, measured wind gusts as high as 170 mph. On the 18^th, Hugo hit Puerto Rico, producing a storm surge of four to six feet, and northeastern sections of the island were deluged with more than ten inches of rain. Hugo claimed the lives of a dozen persons in Puerto Rico, and caused $1 billion in property damage, including $100 million in crop losses. On the 21^st, Hugo slammed into the South Carolina coast at about 11 PM, making landfall near Sullivans Island. Hurricane Hugo was directly responsible for thirteen deaths, and indirectly responsible for twenty-two others. A total of 420 persons were injured in the hurricane, and damage was estimated at $8 billion including $2 billion damage to crops. Sustained winds reached 85 mph at Folly Beach SC, with wind gusts as high was 138 mph. Wind gusts reached 98 mph at Charleston, and 109 mph at Shaw AFB. The highest storm surge occurred in the McClellanville and Bulls Bay area of Charleston County, with a storm surge of 20.2 ft reported at Seewee Bay. Shrimp boats were found one half-mile inland at McClellanville. On the 22^nd, Hugo quickly lost strength over South Carolina, but still was a tropical storm as it crossed into North Carolina, just west of Charlotte, at about 7 AM. Winds around Charlotte reached 69 mph, with gusts to 99 mph. Eighty percent of the power was knocked out to Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. Property damage in North Carolina was $210 million and damage to crops was $97 million. The greatest storm surge occurred along the southern coast shortly after midnight, reaching nine feet above sea level at Ocean Isle and Sunset Beach. Hugo killed one person and injured fifteen others in North Carolina. (Storm Data) (The National Weather Summary)
17 September 1996...Remnants of Hurricane Fausto that had initially formed over the eastern Pacific and moved northeastward from Mexico reformed into a powerful coastal storm in Atlantic waters off the Del-Mar-Va Peninsula, before passing Cape Cod in eastern Massachusetts. Winds gusted to 50 mph and rainfall was up to four inches. Minor coastal flooding in the New York City metropolitan area. (Accord Weather Guide Calendar)
17 September 2004...Flooding and mudslides killed more than 3,000 people in Haiti in Hurricane Jeanne. (National Weather Service files)
18 September 1926...The great "Miami Hurricane" produced winds reaching 138 mph, which drove ocean waters into Biscayne Bay drowning 135 persons. The eye of the hurricane passed over Miami, at which time the barometric pressure dropped to 935.0 millibars (27.61 inches of mercury). Tides up to twelve feet high accompanied the hurricane, which claimed 372 lives. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
19 September 1559...The first hurricane in recorded U.S. history hit Pensacola, FL. As many as seven Spanish expedition ships may have been destroyed. (National Weather Service files)
19 September 1957...Bathyscaph Trieste, in a dive sponsored by the Office of Naval Research in the Mediterranean, reached a record depth of 2 miles. (Naval Historical Center)
19 September 1967...Hurricane Beulah deluged Brownsville, TX with 12.19 in. of rain in 24 hours, to establish a record for that location. Hurricane Beulah made landfall on the 20^th near the mouth of the Rio Grande River, where a wind gust of 135 mph was reported by a ship in the port. (19^th-20^th) (The Weather Channel)
20 September 1519...Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan set sail from Spain in an effort to find a western sea route to the rich Spice Islands of Indonesia. In October 1520, he passed through the straits that now bear his name separating Tierra del Fuego and the South American mainland and became the first known European explorer to enter the Pacific Ocean from the Atlantic. In September 1522 one remaining ship from the original five that set sail returned to Spain, to become the first ship to circumnavigate the globe. Magellan was killed in the Philippines in 1521. (The History Channel)
20 September 1909...A strong hurricane made landfall in southeastern Louisiana. A 15-ft storm surge flooded the Timbalier Bay area. Some 350 people perished. (Intellicast)
21 September 1938...The "Great New England Hurricane" smashed into Long Island and bisected New England from New Haven, CT across Massachusetts and Vermont, causing a massive forest blowdown and widespread flooding. Winds gusted to 186 mph at Blue Hill Observatory in Milton, MA, and a storm surge of nearly 30 ft caused extensive flooding along the coast of Rhode Island. The hurricane killed over 600 persons and caused $500 million damage. The hurricane, which lasted twelve days, destroyed 275 million trees. Hardest hit were Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Long Island NY. The "Long Island Express" produced gargantuan waves with its 150 mph winds. Waves smashed against the New England shore with such force that earthquake-recording machines on the Pacific coast clearly showed the shock of each wave. (David Ludlum) (The Weather Channel)
21 September 1989...Hurricane Hugo made landfall on Isle of Palms, SC as a Category 4 hurricane. This storm brought strong winds to many areas of South Carolina. In Downtown Charleston, sustained winds of 87 mph were reported; along with gusts of 108 mph. Total damage from this hurricane is estimated at $10 billion, including $5.2 billion in the United States. (National Weather Service files)
22-23 September 1998...Hurricane Georges raked Hispaniola leaving over 580 dead in Haiti and the Dominican Republic, due mainly to flash flooding and subsequent mud slides in high terrain regions. Damage estimates from the storm exceeded $1 billion (US). (The Weather Doctor)
23 September 1551...The Grand Harbour at Valetta, Malta was hit by a waterspout that then moved inland and caused extensive damage. A shipping armada in the harbor about to go into battle was destroyed by the waterspout killing at least 600 people. (The Weather Doctor)
23 September 1815...One of the most powerful hurricanes to strike New England made landfall initially on Long Island, NY and then again at Old Saybrook, CT before crossing into Massachusetts and New Hampshire. Extensive structural damage resulted. Providence, RI was flooded and six people were killed. This "Great September Gale" was the worst tempest in nearly 200 years, equal in strength to the Great 1938 Hurricane, and one of a series of severe summer and autumn storms to affect shipping lanes that year. (David Ludlum)